LIBRARY 

•■ 

OF    THE 

■ 

Theological    Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.   J. 

BS    2505    ,M3    1855 
0    Macduff,    John  R.    1818-1895. 
The   footsteps   of   St.    Paul 

B 

I : _ 

L- 


©A&TB&8,  11W  TOM 


THE 


FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST.  PAUL. 


BY   THE   AUTHOR   OF 

"MORNING  AND  NIGHT   WATCHES,"   "THE    WORDS  OF    JESUS,1 

"THE  MIND  OF  JESUS,"  "FAMILY  PRAYERS,"  "THE  GREAT 

JOURNEY,"   "WOODCUTTER  OF  LEBANON," 

ETC.,  ETC.  ** 


• 


NEW    YORK: 
Ron  E  R  T    C  A  II  T  E  R    &    B  R  O  T  HER.  S, 

No.    28  5     BROADWA  V. 

1855. 


"  Should  any  one  ask  me  to  name  the  man  who,  of  all  others, 
has  been  the  greatest  benefactor  of  our  race,  I  should  say,  with- 
out hesitation,  the  Apostle  Paul.  His  name  is  the  type  of 
human  activity  the  most  endless,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
most  useful  that  history  has  cared  to  preserve." — Mo nod. 

"  May  we  not  believe,  in  a  sense  higher  than  Chrysostom  ever 
dreamt  of,  that  the  pulses  of  that  mighty  heart  are  still  the 
pulses  of  this  world's  life — still  beat  in  these  latter  ages  with 
greater  force  than  ever." — Stanley'' s  Essays  on  the  Apostolical  Age. 


PREFACE. 


In  venturing,  in  the  following  pages,  to  occupy 
ground  which  has  been  so  often  and  so  well  tra- 
versed, it  is  perhaps  superfluous  to  disclaim  any 
great  attempt  at  originality.  The  complaint  of 
Chrysostom  is  now  no  longer,  or  should  no  longer, 
be  true,  that  St  Paul  is  not  known  by  Chris- 
tians as  he  ought  to  be.  Much  interesting  light 
has  been  recently  thrown  by  a  mass  of  able  authors 
on  the  history  and  character  of  the  Great  Apostle  ; 
and  good  service  it  was  thought  might  be  done 
by  translating  into  a  simpler  form  what  had  been 
so  admirably  supplied  for  more  advanced  and 
thoughtful  minds.  All  the  more  valuable  Com- 
mentaries, as  was  to  be  expected,  are  copiously 
interspersed  with  learned  and  valuable  disquisi- 
tions on  questions  of  great  moment,  and  important 


VI  PREFACE. 

in  themselves,  but  which  are  little  fitted  to  interest 
and  instruct  younger  students.  The  writer  has 
endeavoured,  therefore,  in  a  course  of  reading  on 
the  Life  of  St  Paul,  to  cull  from  "  treasures  new 
and  old  "  what  would  be  serviceable  to  the  latter 
class  of  readers. 

He  has  to  acknowledge  his  obligations  to  the 
following  among  other  works  :  —  Howson  and 
Conybeare's  "Life  and  Epistles  of  St  Paul" 
(London,  1852),  especially  in  the  opening  chap- 
ters ;  the  less  known  but  able  work  of  Mr  Lewin, 
"Life  and  Epistles  of  St  Paul"  (1851),  frequent 
references  to  which  will  attest  the  amount  of  obli- 
gation ;  Cave's  "Lives  of  the  Apostles"  (1676); 
Stanley's  "  Sermons  and  Essays  on  the  Apostolical 
Age"  (1847);  Neander's  "Planting  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church ; "  Olshausen  on  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles ;  Stackhouse's  "  History  of  the  Bible " 
(1764)  ;  Benson's  "  Planting  of  the  Christian 
Keligion"  (1750);  Barnes  on  the  Acts;  Home's 
"  Introduction ; "  Blunt' s  "  Sermons  on  St  Paul ;  " 
Suetonius'  "Lives  of  the  Caesars;"  Josephus' 
"  Wars  and  Antiquities  ;  "  Kitto's  "  Bible  Cyclo- 
paedia."     Besides  these,   many  books   of  travel, 


PREFACE.  Vll 

such  as  Kinneir's  "Travels  in  Asia  Minor''  (1818), 
Beaufort's  "  Karamania  "  (1817),  Eustace's  "  Clas- 
sical Tour  in  Italy  "  (Paris,  1837),  &c.  &c. 

While  following,  however,  in  the  wake  of  these 
great  explorers,  and  not  ashamed  to  profit  by  the 
lights  they  have  hung  out  astern,  it  is  hoped  there 
will  be  found  sufficient,  in  what  follows,  of  inde- 
pendent research  and  thought,  to  redeem  it  from 
the  unattractive  character  of  a  mere  compilation. 

Another  reason  may  be  mentioned  for  giving 
these  pages  a  permanent  form.  Amid  the  vast, 
the  perplexing  multiplicity  of  "  Eeligious  books," 
and  "  Books  for  the  Young,"  of  all  kinds,  in  the 
present  day,  the  writer  has  felt,  by  experience, 
the  want  of  a  class  of  volumes  suitable  for  youths 
(say  from  ten  to  seventeen  years  of  age),  which 
would  tend,  by  combining  historical  and  biographi- 
cal interest  with  religious  instruction,  to  attract 
them  to  a  more  careful  and  devout  study  of  the 
Word  of  God.  What  nobler  model  could  be 
selected  in  this  respect  for  the  youthful  mind — 
what  history  more  replete  with  stirring  interest 
and  noble  spiritual  lessons,  than  the  Life  of  "  the 
Scholar  of  Gamaliel?"      It  has  been  truthfully 


Viil  PREFACE. 

said,  that  "  no  romance  has  ever  been  written  so 
interesting  as  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles."  It  is  a 
sort  of  inspired  Picture  Gallery  of  stirring  scenes 
and  events.  The  centre  portrait,  on  which  the  eye 
rests,  or  rather  the  prominent  figure  reproduced  in 
all  the  others,  is  the  Great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
Since  it  is  for  youthful  readers  this  volume  is 
mainly  designed,  the  endeavour  has  been  made  to 
sustain  throughout,  the  pictorial  and  descriptive 
character  of  the  narrative,  which  forms  not  the  least 
charm  in  the  pages  of  Messrs  Howson  and  Cony- 
beare.  The  writer  will  be  happy  should  the  per- 
usal of  what  he  has  written,  lead,  at  a  more  advanced, 
stage,  to  the  study  of  a  work  in  which  learning 
and  eloquence  have  been  so  successfully  brought 
to  bear  on  the  greatest  of  biographies. 

One  other  sentence  to  a  Preface  which  has 
already  outrun  its  due  proportions.  The  author 
made  use  of  the  substance  of  these  notes  at  a 
weekly  meeting  in  a  rural  parish;  and  the  interest 
manifested  in  hearing  them  has  formed  an  addi- 
tional inducement  to  commit  them  in  their  present 
shape  to  the  press.  The  auxiliary  of  a  large  map 
the  reader  cannot  enjoy,   in  which   he  was  able 


PREFACE.  IX 

to  trace  the  "  Footsteps  of  St  Paul;"  but  it  is 
hoped  that  this  want  will  be  in  no  small  measure 
compensated  by  the  series  of  wood  engravings 
illustrative  of  scenes  and  incidents  in  these  "  oft 
journeyings." 

December  1854. 

***  When  the  whole  of  these  pages  were  writ- 
ten, and  one  half  were  finally  revised,  the  writer  ob- 
tained the  last  volume  of  Kitto's  "  Scripture  Read- 
ings"— the  " Apostles  and  Early  Church" — in  the 
preface  to  which,  he  finds  that  esteemed  author 
acknowledges  similar  obligations  to  many  of  those 
English  works  to  which  he  has  been  so  largely 
indebted. 

Although  the  same  ground  has,  in  some  respects, 
been  trodden,  yet  his  object — to  write  a  simple  con- 
secutive history  of  St  Paul — has  sufficiently  pre- 
vented collision  j  and  any  similarities  that  may 
occur,  must  only  award  to  a  less  skilful  hand  the 
credit  of  discrimination  in  gleaning  what  was  best 
from  those  ample  storehouses  to  which  both  have 
1  ecu  led. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  I.  THE  YOUTH            ......  2 

CHAP.  II.   THE  SCHOLAR       ......  18 

CHAP.  III.  THE  PERSECUTOR 32 

CHAP.  IV.   THE  CONVERT 46 

CHAP.  V.   THE  FUGITIVE 68 

CHAP.  VI.   THE  MISSIONARY 92 

CHAP.  VII.   THE  TRAVELLER 114 

CHAP.  VIII.   THE  DELEGATE 140 

CHAP.  IX.  THE  SECOND  JOURNEY           ....  154 

CHAP.  X.  THE  PRISON 176 

CHAP.  XI.   THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA            .          .          .  196 

CHAP.  XII.   PAUL  AT  ATHENS 210 

CHAP.  XIII.   PAUL  AT  CORINTH 228 

CHAP.  XIV.   PAUL  AT  EPHESUS 248 

CHAP.  XV.   THE  TUMULT 262 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  XVI.   THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR 
CHAP.  XVII.    THE  SEA-VOYAGE      . 
CHAP.  XVIII.    PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM 
CHAP.  XIX.    PAUL  IN  CESAREA      . 
CHAP.  XX.   THE  SHIPWRECK 
CHAP.  XXI.   PAUL  IN  ROME 
CHAP.  XXII.   PRISON-LIFE    . 
CHAP.  XXIII.   THE  CLOSING  SCENE 


PAOE 

274 
292 
30G 
326 
342 
300 
384 
39G 


THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 


1  'IhIjhS.  ) 


, 


CHAPTER  I. 


f  jtt  gmti|. 


"  Sweetly  wild !  sweetly  wild! 

Were  the  scenes  that  charm'd  me  when  a  child. 

Rocks — grey  rocks,  with  their  tracery  dark, 

Leaping  rills,  like  the  diamond  spark, 

Torrent  voices  thundering  by, 

When  the  pride  of  the  vernal  floods  swell'd  high. 
***** 

It  was  sweet  to  sit  till  the  sun  laid  down 
At  the  gate  of  the  west  nis  golden  crown. 

Sweetly  wild !  sweetly  wild ! 
Were  the  scenes  that  charm'd  me  when  a  child." 

Mrs  Sigourney. 


row.  look  at  the  map  of  Asia, 
you  will  see,  to  the  north-west 
&  '  .  of  Palestine,   washed   by    the 

blue  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  -the  country  of  Asia 
Minor.  In  the  south-east  corner  of  it,  running  parallel 
with  the  coast,  are  the  Alps  of  that  region — the  high 
mountain  range  of  the  Taurus.  As  the  snow  which 
covers  their  summits  is  melted  by  the  sun's  heat,  many 
rivulets  flow  down  to  water  and  refresh  the  thirsty  plains 
below.  A  stream  larger  than  the  rest  is  seen  to  dash 
its  way,  first  through  the  rocks  and  valleys  of  the 
upper  regions,  and  then  to  wind  its  dark  and  sluggish* 


*  The  name  of  the  river  now  is  "  Kara  Su,"  or  "Black  water,"  and  it 
must  have  greatly  changed  its  course,  as  it  is  now  more  than  a  mile  from 
the  modern  Tarsoos. 


4  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

course  through  the  rich  level  country  bordering  on  the 
sea. 

The  name  of  the  river  is  the  Cydnus,  and  of  the 
province  Cilicia.  You  may  try  to  form  a  picture  to 
yourselves  of  the  animated  scenes  on  its  banks  at  the 
time  of  which  I  am  going  to  write.  Women  coming 
down  to  fetch  water,  with  veils  over  their  faces, 
and  pitchers  on  their  heads;  shepherds  playing  on 
their  reeds,  with  their  flocks  of  goats  and  sheep  brows- 
ing around  them.  Now  and  then,  bands  or  caravans 
of  merchants  from  distant  parts,  with  camels  bearing 
spices  and  wools,  are  glad  to  pause  at  mid-day,  under 
the  shade  of  the  palm-trees  which  cast  their  beautiful 
reflection  in  the  stream,  and  there  get  refreshment  ere 
they  pursue  their  journey. 

Following  this  river  in  its  course  from  the  moun- 
tains, you  come  to  the  walls  of  the  large  town  of  Tar- 
sus, which,  at  the  same  period,  formed  the  capital  or 
chief  city  of  the  country.  It  wras  beautifully  situated 
among  luxuriant  gardens ;  the  houses  wTere  ranged  in 
the  form  of  a  half-circle  on  either  side  of  the  river, 
giving  it  something  of  the  shape  of  the  wings  of  a  bird. 
If  you  had  gone  inside  its  walls,  you  would  have  seen 
a  great  variety  of  faces  and  dress,  and  heard  spoken 
many  different  languages.  Sometimes  you  would  meet 
wTith  native  Cilicians ;  at  other  times  you  could  not 
mistake  the  features  of  Jews,  or  Greek  merchants,  or 
haughty  Romans.  Like  the  greater  portion  of  the 
known  world,  Cilicia  and  Tarsus  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  Emperor  Csesar.  Roman  soldiers  would 
be  seen  now  and  then  pacing  up  and  dowm  its  streets ; 
Roman  ships  wrere  sailing  up  the  Cydnus  into  its  har- 
bour,   and  with   Roman  names  and  signs  painted  on 


THE  YOUTH.  5 

them,  filling  its  docks.  It  enjoyed  privileges,  how- 
ever, peculiar  to  several  Roman  towns.  It  was  one 
of  those  cities  which  was  called  Libera  or  free.  It  was 
ruled  by  its  own  magistrates,  and  had  its  own  laws, 
just  as  is  the  case  with  some  modern  cities  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  such  as  Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 
Hamburg,  Lubeck,  Bremen,  and  others.  These,  for 
special  reasons,  while  remaining  under  the  protection 
of  Prussia  and  Austria,  have  an  independent  govern- 
ment of  their  own,  as  Tarsus  had  under  the  broad 
shadow  of  imperial  Rome. 

In  other  and  more  important  respects,  Tarsus  was 
"  no  mean  city."  One  of  the  three  great  universities, 
or  seats  of  learning,  in  the  world,  at  that  time,  was 
within  its  gates  ;  those  of  Athens  and  Alexandria  being 
the  other  two.  Many  of  the  young  men  trained  at  the 
Tarsus  schools  were  found  afterwards  at  Rome,  tutors 
in  the  highest  families  of  the  state,  and  even  in  the 
palace  of  the  emperor  on  the  Palatine.  Indeed,  at  this 
very  time,  a  philosopher  named  Nestor,  who  had  been 
tutor  to  Marcellus,  the  nephew  of  Augustus,  was  ruler 
of  the  city. 

Along  the  banks  of  the  Cydnus  there  was  a  lawn  of 
grass,  with  shady  trees  similar  to  our  modern  parks. 
Aged  philosophers  and  learned  men,  with  their  long 
beards,  might  be  seen  walking  up  and  down  engaged 
in  deep  thought  or  earnest  discussion;  while  youths 
of  the  university,  at  their  holiday  hours,  were  busy 
practising  those  athletic  games  which  were  so  famous 
among  the  Greeks.  I  daresay  the  young  Tarsians 
would  have  among  themselves  their  own  trials  of 
strength — running,  leaping,  wrestling,  boxing.  They 
would  have  their  own  mimic  crowns  of  olive  or  laurel 


G  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

to  put  on  the  brow  of  youthful  victors  ;  and  doubtless 
would  often  talk  about  the  day  when  they  would  be 
able  to  go  to  Corinth,  and  take  part  in  its  well-known 
contests.'" 

It  was  in  a  house  in  this  Cilician  city  that  "  Saul  of 
Tarsus"  was  born.  People  go  to  a  great  distance  to 
visit  the  birthplaces  of  famous  men.  There  are  spots 
on  the  earth's  surface  which  will  be  ever  memorable  as 
being  the  scenes  of  the  childhood  of  Cassar  and  Alexan- 
der, Luther  and  Melancthon,  Howard  and  Wilber- 
force.  We  shall  find  afterwards,  that  the  little  reed- 
thatched  cottage,  where  Romulus  the  founder  of  Rome 
was  born,  was  preserved  sacred  and  untouched  among 
the  splendid  palaces  on  the  Palatine.  What  an  inter- 
est must  gather  around  the  birthplace  of  one  who,  in 
the  highest  spiritual  sense,  was  hero,  scholar,  philan- 
thropist, all  in  one, — the  greatest  of  those  "  great  men" 
who  have  left  their  "footprints  on  the  sands  of  time  !" 

I  remember  looking  down  several  years  ago  in  Swit- 
zerland on  the  little  rill  flowing  out  of  that  vast  wall 
of  ice,  "the  Rhone  glacier."  What  interest  was  con- 
nected with  it  as  the  commencement  of  that  giant 
river  which  sweeps  past  the  walls  of  Lyons  and  Avig- 
non, and  waters  the  most  fertile  provinces  of  France  ! 
From  Tarsus  and  its  snow-capped  Taurus,  we  watch 
the  first  tiny  rill  of  a  more  glorious  river,  "  the  streams 
whereof,"  in  every  land  and  under  every  clime,  have 
"  made  glad  the  city  of  God." 

I  cannot  tell  you  the  exact  year  in  which  Saul's 
birth  took  place.  It  was,  however,  at  a  most  memor- 
able era  of  the  world's  history.     When  he  was  lying 

*  Sec  Strabo,  the  geographer,  who  lived  in  the  same  age  of  which  we 
write. — Bonk  xiv.,  vol.  ii. 


THE  YOUTH.  7 

an  infant  in  his  cradle  in  Tarsus,  there  were  other  little 
children  training  up  by  God  in  other  places  for  great 
duties  and  great  services.*  On  the  banks  of  a  solitary 
lake  in  the  land  of  Judea,  there  were  a  number  of 
youths  about  that  same  time  going  out  day  after  day 
with  their  fathers  fishing  in  their  boats,  or  helping 
them  to  mend  their  nets  on  the  beach.  These  were 
afterwards  to  become  the  apostles  of  Christianity. 
There  was  a  little  child  who  was  recently  born  in  the 
old  city  of  Hebron,  a  son  of  a  priest,  who  was  ere  long- 
to  appear  as  a  great  preacher  to  prepare  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  saying,  "  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand ; "  and  more  interesting  and  solemn  still, 
while  Saul  \fas  an  infant  boy  at  Tarsus,  there  was  a 
wondrous  Being  in  an  infant's  form  growing  up  at 
Nazareth, — it  was  the  holy  child  Jesus,  the  promised 
Messiah  !  Little  did  the  proud  world  know  the  worth 
that  was  contained  in  these  two  distant  homes — two 
helpless  children  unknown  to  one  another ;  but  the 
one  was  the  Son  of  the  eternal  God,  the  Redeemer  of 
mankind  ;  the  other,  His  greatest  minister  and  apostle. 
As  regards  even  the  political  history  of  the  world, 
the  period  of  Saul's  birth  was  an  eventful  one.  Augus- 
tus, the  greatest  of  the  Roman  emperors,  was  on  the 
throne  of  the  Caesars ;  his  vast  dominion  extended 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  human  race  ;  the  wealth  of 
his  capital  was  unbounded ;  its  temples  were  filled  with 
the  spoils  of  conquered  nations ;  the  ruins  of  vast 
buildings,  aqueducts,  arches,  bridges,  and  harbours, 
remain  to  this  day,  to  tell  the  grandeur  of  what  was 
called  by  the  poets  "  the  golden  age."  Alas  !  it  was 
but  a  painted  glory  ;  like  the  whited  sepulchres  of  the 

*  Howson  and  Conybeare,  vol.  i.  p.  68. 


8  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

prophets,  "  within  was  full  of  corruption  and  wicked- 
ness." God  seemed  to  read  mankind  a  lesson  what  a 
poor  world  this  would  be,  with  all  the  power  and 
wealth  of  Rome,  and  all  the  learning  and  wisdom  of 
Greece,  if  it  had  not  the  gospel  of  Jesus  to  make  men 
holy  and  happy.  "  The  world  by  wisdom,"  the  boasted 
wisdom  of  this  its  greatest  and  wisest  epoch,  "  knew 
not  God;"  the  religion  of  Rome,  such  as  it  was,  had 
become  a  mere  form  ;  the  palaces  of  the  nobles  were 
filled  with  vice  and  crime  ;  the  simple  morals  of  her 
common  people  were  gone  ;  and  thousands  of  slaves 
from  her  conquered  provinces  were  pining  in  the  hard- 
est drudgery.  It  was  at  this  mournful  period,  when 
the  grossest  spiritual  gloom  had  settled  over  the 
nations,  that  the  great  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  His 
brightest  attendant  star,  arose. 

You  would  doubtless  like  to  know  all  about  Paul's 
parents  —  what  his  father's  trade  was,  and  whether 
he  was  a  rich  man  or  a  poor  man.  We  are  not 
told.  Most  probably  he  was  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other,  but  a  respectable  merchant  or  trader,  en- 
gaged like  other  Jews  in  traffic  with  the  cities  on  the 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  We  may  conclude,  how- 
ever, that  he  could  not  have'  been  in  straitened  cir- 
cumstances, from  his  being  able  to  bestow  on  his  son 
an  education  at  Jerusalem.  In  this  respect,  young 
Saul  was  placed  in  a  more  favourable  position  than 
other  three  apostolic  men  who  lived  1500  years  after 
him,  and  who,  both  in  their  mission  and  character, 
most  nearly  resembled  him  of  any  since  his  time.  We 
read  that  "the  Reformer  Zuingle  issued  from  the 
cabin  of  a  shepherd  of  the  Alps;  Melancthon,  the 
theologian  of  the  Reformation,  from   the  shop  of  an 


THE  YOUTH.  9 

armourer;  and  Luther  from  the  hut  of  a  poor  miner.""" 
This  last  (the  great  German  Reformer)  is  perhaps  the 
individual  who,  of  all  others,  is  most  worthy  to  be 
placed  side  by  side  with  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  Ave  shall  have  more  than  once  occasion  to  compare 
them  together. 

With  regard  to  Saul's  father,  we  know,  from 
the  letters  his  son  afterwards  wrote,  that  he  was 
very  strict  in  his  religion.  Though  he  had  changed 
his  native  country,  he  had  not  changed  his  creed.  He 
still  remained  a  strict  Pharisee,  and  brought  up  his 
little  boy  as  such.  You  know  that  the  Pharisees  were 
the  most  rigid  of  all  the  sects  among  the  Jews.  They 
wore  long  dresses,  and  used  long  prayers  ;  they 
fasted,  and  made  a  great  show  about  religion;  they 
loved  to  be  seen  of  men,  and  to  get  the  praise  of  men 
more  than  the  praise  of  God.  Many  of  them,  however, 
I  believe,  were  good  people — tried  to  be  good  and  to  do 
good,  and  brought  up  their  children  in  the  way  of  truth. 
I  would  be  inclined  to  think  that  Saul's  father  was  of 
this  number.  He  tells  us  afterwards  that  "he  served 
God  from  his  forefathers.1"  This  would  seem  to  imply 
that  not  only  his  father  but  his  grandfather,  and  far- 
ther back  still,  were  strict  Pharisees,  serving  the  God 
of  Israel  in  their  synagogue,  in  the  midst  of  that  Gen- 
tile city.  We  are  led  to  infer,  too,  that  one  of  these 
ancestors  of  his  had  been  a  brave  man,  and  was  re- 
warded for  his  courage ;  for  they  had  received  in  some 
way  the  honour  of  Roman  citizens,  which  Paul  himself 
inherited,  and  which  we  shall  afterwards  find  proved 
on  many  occasions  very  serviceable  to  him.  It  has 
been  a  question  with  many  how  this  citizenship  was 

*  D'Aubigne's  Reformation,  book  ii.  chap.  i. 


10  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

obtained.'  I  have  just  told  you  that  the  great  houses 
and  palaces  at  Rome  were  supplied  with  numerous 
slaves,  and  these  we  know,  moreover,  were  principally 
obtained  from  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor.  It  is  possible 
that  Saul's  father  or  grandfather  may  have  been  in  this 
way  purchased,  during  their  youth,  by  some  Roman. 
Their  master  may  further  have  taken  a  fancy  to  them, 
and  as  a  reward,  perhaps,  of  good  conduct,  have  be- 
stowed upon  one  or  other  their  freedom.  I  by  no 
means  venture  to  say  that  this  is  the  accurate  expla- 
nation. I  merely  state  it  as  one  of  the  more  likely 
of  the  suppositions  which  learned  writers  have  made 
regarding  the  possession  of  this  family  privilege. 

We  have  spoken  of  Saul's  father  —  who  was  his 
mother  ?  Most  children  who,  on  growing  up  to  man- 
hood, have  become  good  and  great,  have  owed  very 
much  to  their  mothers.  And  it  would  have  been  inter- 
esting to  know  who  Saul's  was.  But  there  is  -nothing 
in  any  place  said  about  her.  Perhaps  she  may  have 
been  taken  early  away  from  him,  and  he  left  in  his  in- 
fancy a  motherless  little  orphan ;  or,  perhaps  the  tears 
may  have  fallen  fast  from  her  eyes  when  she  heard,  in 
future  years,  that  her  son  had  deserted  his  sect  and  his 
creed,  and  become  a  disciple  of  Jesus;  or  who  can  tell 
(may  we  not  speak  of  the  barely  possible  hope?)  that, 
before  he  became  "  Paul  the  aged,"  he  was  allowed  to 
sit  by  his  mother's  dying  pillow,  and  point  her  sinking 
eye  to  the  "  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world?" 

He  had,  at  least,  one  sister.*  •  We  may  picture  to 
ourselves  in  thought  the  two  little  ones  in  their  early 
years,  seated  on  their  father's,   or,  it  may  be,  their 

*  Acts  xxiii.  16. 


THE  YOUTH.  J  I 

mother's  knee,  hearing  from  their  lips  about  all  the 
wondrous  deeds  of  their  ancestors.  Sometimes  their 
young  minds  would  be  turned  to  the  story  of  Moses  in 
the  ark  of  bulrushes,  and  the  awful  plagues  of  Egypt; 
at  other  times,  to  the  passage  through  the  Red  Sea, 
and  how  Pharaoh  and  his  hosts  were  drowned  in  its 
waves.     At  others,   they  would  love  to  listen  to  the 

tale  of  the  wanderings  of  their  fathers  in  the  desert 

the  arrival  in  Canaan — and  the  glories  of  David  and 
Solomon.  We  may  imagine  them  hushed  to  sleep, 
night  after  night,  with  some  of  the  sweet  songs  of  Zion 
which  the  great  Psalmist  King  had  played  upon  his 
harp,  or  the  poor  captives  had  sung  by  the  rivers  of 
Baby] on.  The  Jews  were  strictly  enjoined  by  Moses, 
in  the  6th  and  11th  chapters  of  Deuteronomy,  to  teach 
their  children  the  law  of  God.  Five  was  the  age  when 
they  generally  began  to  read  the  law.  We  have  every 
reason  to  think  that  Saul's  parents  were  not  slow 
either  in  obeying  the  divine  command,  or  following 
the  usual  practice  of  their  countrymen,  making  their 
little  boy  "  from  a  child  to  know  the  Holy  Scriptures,'' 
which  were  afterwards  (in  a  way  they  never  dreamt 
of)  to  "  make  him  wise  unto  salvation." 

Our  young  readers,  then,  may  imagine  "  little  Saul" 
in  his  Hebrew  home.  Many  a  league  separated  him 
from  the  city  of  Jerusalem;  but  he  was  not  the  less 
brought  up  "an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews."  As  was 
the  custom  with  Jewish  children,  he  had  been  "cir- 
cumcised the  eighth  day"  after  his  birth,  and  then 
received  the  name  of  Saul  You  will  not  wonder  at 
this  being  a  favourite  name  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin, 
to  which  he  belonged,  when  you  remember  that  the 
first  king  whom  the  Jewish  people  chose  was  "Saul 


12  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

the  Benjamite."  Some  indeed  have  thought  he  was 
called  "  Saul,"  because  the  Hebrew  word  for  Saul  liter- 
ally means  u  the  desired"  or  "prayed  for"  and  that  he 
was  named  so  from  being  the  first-born  child  of  his 
parents,  and  given  to  them  in  answer  to  prayer.*  Be 
this  as  it  may,  let  us  think  of  him  in  his  infancy,  a 
little  boy  playing,  perhaps,  as  Timothy  did,  around  the 
feet  of  another  "grandmother  Lois  and  mother  Eunice," 
and  they  delighting  to  watch  the  progress  of  his  mind 
as  his  infant  lips  began  the  first  attempts  at  speech. 
What  did  he  speak  1  What  was  his  language  1  We 
have  reason  to  believe,  from  what  is  told  us  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that  he  was  taught  to  speak  both 
in  Greek  and  in  Hebrew.  The  Greek  was  probably 
the  tongue  he  was  most  in  the  habit  of  using.  It  was 
very  much  then  what  French  is  now,  the  language 
known  more  than  any  other  among  the  nations  of 
Europe.  It  is  worth  observing,  that  when  at  any 
time  he  refers  in  after  life  to  the  Old  Testament,  he 
quotes  the  Septuagint,+  or  Greek  version  of  it,  and  not 
the  Hebrew.  But  at  the  same  time,  he  was  far  from 
ignorant  of  Hebrew  —  the  language  of  his  fathers. 
Though  Greek  was  chiefly  spoken  in  Tarsus,  the  Jews 
there  never  forgot  to  teach  their  children  their  native 
tongue.  They  generally  had  many  friends  and  kins- 
folk in  Palestino  who  came  from  time  to  time  to  visit 
them  (Paul,  for  instance,  had  himself  a  nephew  at 
Jerusalem  J),  and  with  these  they  could  converse  only 
in  Hebrew. 

It  was  the  practice  always  among  the  Jews  to  in- 

*  Neander's  Planting  oftlie  Christian  Church,  p  SO. 

t  This  is  the  oldest  translation  of  the  Old  Testament.     It  was  so  called 
from  its  having-  been  translated  by  70  learned  meu. 
I  Acts  xxiii.  10, 


THE  YOUTH.  13 

struct  their  sons  in  early  youth  in  some  trade.  This 
was  not  the  case  among  the  very  poor  only,  but  with 
those  of  a  better  class.  It  was  a  common  proverb 
among  them — "If  a  man  does  not  teach  his  son  a 
trade,  he  teaches  him  to  steal ;"  and  we  know  that  several 
learned  Rabbis,  whose  writings  have  come  down  to 
us,  were  brought  up  with  the  knowledge  of  some  com- 
mon business.  "  We  have  an  instance  of  a  great  and 
eminent  critic  who  was  a  carpenter,  another  an  iron- 
founder,  with  many  similar  examples."*  The  custom 
was  a  wise  and  prudent  one.  It  was  to  prevent  them 
ever  falling  into  idleness,  and  to  enable  them,  if  they 
ever  were  in  straits,  to  have  the  means  of  earning 
their  bread.  Saul's  father  chose  for  him  a  very  natu- 
ral occupation.  He  taught  him,  or  sent  him  to  learn, 
to  make  "tents."  This  would  seem  to  have  been  a 
favourite  trade  in  Cilicia ;  indeed  the  material  of  which 
these  tents  were  made  was  called  Cilicium,  from  the 
name  of  the  province.  The  goat  was  an  animal  that 
was  common  there,  as  in  many  other  parts  of  the  East, 
and  from  its  hair,  which  was  long  and  beautiful,  these 
tents  were  constructed.  Occasionally  it  would  seem 
that  they  were  made  of  the  hides  as  well  as  the  hair; 
and  hence  an  old  father  of  the  Church,  in  speaking  of 
Saul's  occupation,  calls  him  sometimes  a  tent-stitcher, 
and  sometimes  a  worker  in  leather,  t  We  shall,  by 
and  by,  find  how  fortunate  it  was  that  the  young  Jew 
of  Tarsus  had  thus  early  learned  this  useful  trade.  It 
relieved  him,  for  many  years  of  his  after  life,  from  a 
state  of  poverty  and  dependence.  Many  a  midnight 
hour  found  him  hard  at  work  at  his  web  of  goats'  hair, 
for  he   "laboured  night  and  day,  that  he  might  be 

*  Blunt's  Scrinons  on  St  Paul.  f  See  Olshausen  on  Acts. 


14  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

chargeable  to  no  man."*  "  I  may  just  add,  that  this 
hair-cloth,  which  was  a  thick  stuff  like  felt,  seems  to 
have  had  the  property,  if  not  of  keeping  out  wet,  at 
all  events  of  not  rotting  soon  under  the  influence  of 
damp  or  moisture.  It  served  very  much  the  purposes 
which  our  modern  gutta  percha  and  oilcloth  do.  It 
was  employed  in  making  coats  and  coverings  for  those 
who  were  much  exposed  to  the  variable  weather  in 
these  mountain  districts.  Sailors  used  it,  too,  for 
bad  weather  at  sea,  and  when  we  come,  long  after 
this,  to  describe  Paul  tossed  for  fourteen  days  and 
nights,  amid  black  skies  and  rain-torrents,  we  may 
think  of  the  sailors  and  crew  around  him,  plying  the 
pumps  and  reefing  the  sails  with  their  Cilician  hair- 
coats  on. 

Very  possibly  this  manufacture  formed  the  greater 
part  of  the  merchandise  of  his  father  in  the  market 
towns  around ;  and  it  is  striking  to  hear  from  travellers 
who  have  visited  these  countries  in  our  own  times,  that 
at  present,  during  harvest,  the  rich  corn  fields  may  be 
seen  dotted  with  the  very  same  goats'-hair  tents,  the 
peasants  and  reapers  living  in  them  till  the  harvest 
work  is  over.t 

We  may  imagine,  then,  the  young  apostle,  when  he 
was  the  age  of  many  of  my  readers,  spending  his 
happy  boyhood  in  his  Tarsus  home.  We  are  apt 
always  to  think  of  Paul  as  the  grown-up  man — an 
apostle — not  perhaps  advanced  in  life,  but  still  with 
the  marks  of  hard  toil,  and  "the  care  of  all  the 
churches"  on  his  furrowed  brow;  but  we  must  remem- 
ber he  had  once  a  boyhood  like  ourselves,  his  boyish 
amusements,  and  occupations,  and  pleasures. 

*  1  Thcss.  i.  9.  f  Beaufort's  Karamania,  p.  263. 


THE  YOUTH.  15 

The  youth  of  the  Eeformer  Luther,  which  we  have 
already  spoken  of  in  connexion  with  his,  was  formed 
amid  much  less  beautiful  scenery.  The  banks  of  the 
Wipper,  and  the  plains  of  Mansfield  in  Saxony,  were 
poor  and  tame  compared  with  the  snowy  cliffs  of  the 
Taurus  range,  and  the  verdant  banks  of  the  Cydnus. 
Still  more  cheerless,  in  other  respects,  was  the  infancy 
of  the  young  apostle  of  Germany.  He  tells  us,  that 
often  he  had  to  follow  his  father  and  mother  to  the 
forest  to  gather  bundles  of  sticks,  which  they  after- 
wards carried  on  their  backs  to  the  village  and  sold,  to 
relieve  them  from  their  extreme  poverty.  Even  at 
school  he  met  with  anything  but  kindness.  His  mas- 
ter beat  him  fifteen  times  successively  in  one  day ! 

We  are  led  to  think  of  a  sunnier  morning  of  life  in 
connexion  with  Saul.  We  love  to  follow  him  in 
thought  in  his  boyish  rambles  amid  the  beautiful 
scenery  in  the  midst  of  which  his  childhood  was  cast. 
We  can  imagine  him  gazing  often  and  again  on  the 
noble  hills  which  rose  like  wall  above  wall  behind 
the  city,  their  white  tops  sparkling  in  the  rays  of  the 
sun.  He  and  his  sister  would  love  to  watch,  from  the 
flat  roof  of  their  house,  the  deep  shadows  chasing  one 
another  across  the  mountain  sides,  or,  perhaps,  on  a 
longer  holiday,  they  would  go  and  climb  part  of  their 
craggy  slopes,  and  look  down  on  the  lovely  plains 
beneath.  Often,  I  daresay,  they  would  like  to  wander 
up  by  the  banks  of  the  Cydnus,  as  you  see  them  in 
the  picture  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  to  watch 
the  leap  of  the  waterfall  a  mile  north  from  the  town, 
which  grew  very  large  after  the  melting  of  the  snows 
in  the  mountains.* 

*  "The  extreme  coldness  of  this  celebrated  river  is  said  to  have  occa- 


16  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

We  may  think  at  other  times  of  the  Jewish  boy,  in 
company  with  his  hardier  playmates,  going,  on  those 
greater  holidays  when  all  work  in  the  city  and  schools 
was  stopped,  to  the  gymnasium  to  witness  the  runners 
and  wrestlers  in  the  athletic  games.  We  cannot  won- 
der if  we  should  come  afterwards,  in  reading  some  of 
Paul's  writings,  to  find  these  contests  which  his  child- 
hood had  looked  upon  lingering  in  his  memory.  Or, 
to  change  the  scene,  we  may  imagine  him,  during  the 
day,  in  some  Jewish  school  near  the  Sanhedrim ;  the 
circle  of  black-eyed  scholars,  with  their  white  cloaks, 
seated  on  the  ground  (as  was  the  custom)  round  about 
their  Jewish  teacher,  learning  them  to  read  and  to 
write,  and  getting  by  heart  portions  of  their  sacred 
law. 

We  read  of  Martin  Luther,  when  he  was  of  a  similar 
age,  probably  a  little  younger,  that  a  young  man  of 
Mansfield,  called  Nicholas  Emler,  was  in  the  habit  of 
taking  him  to  the  house  of  George  Emilius,  and  re- 
turned to  fetch  him  thence.  It  would,  in  all  likelihood, 
be  the  same  with  young  Saul.  A  slave  or  servant 
would  be  employed  to  conduct  him  to  school  and  wait 
to  bring  him  safe  home  again  ;  according  to  his  own 
beautiful  comparison,  when  he  speaks,  in  one  of  his 
epistles,  of  "  the  law"  being  like  "  the  slave  who  takes  us 
to  the  school  of  Christ."*  Once  more,  we  may  picture 
him,  at  other  times,  perhaps  at  night,  when  the  day's 
duties  were  past,  seated  by  a  blazing  fire  at  his  father's 

sioned  the  death  of  Frederick  Barbarossa,  and  to  have  proved  neai-ly  fatal 
to  Alexander.  We  found  the  water  undoubtedly  cold,  but  not  more  so 
than  that  of  the  other  rivers  which  carry  down  the  melted  snow  of  Mount 
Taurus,  and  we  bathed  hi  it  without  feeling  any  pernicious  effects." — 
Beaufort,  p.  266. 

*  Gal.  iii.  24.     See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  i.  p.  54. 


THE  YOUTH.  17 

feet,  giving  his  help  to  complete  some  goats'-hair  tents 
they  were  wishful  to  have  finished,  either  in  good  time 
for  harvest,  or  in  order  that  they  might  be  able  to  leave 
as  soon  as  possible,  according  to  the  universal  custom, 
for  their  abode  in  the  mountains,  to  escape  the  burn- 
ing heat  of  the  summer  plains. 

There  would  probably  be  several  other  schools  in 
Tarsus,  but  they  were  Gentile  ones.  Saul  would  be 
brought  up,  not  perhaps  with  a  determined  hatred  to 
the  youth  attending  these,  as  many  young  Israelites 
were,  but  at  least  with  no  friendly  feeling.  As  it  is  with 
the  Jews  to  this  day  all  over  the  world,  the  children 
of  Abraham  would  dwell  in  Tarsus  "  alone,"  and  not  be 
"  reckoned  "  among  the  rest  of  the  citizens.  The  young- 
apostle  would  geb  what  other  religious  knowledge  ho 
possessed  from  the  reading  of  the  law,  Sabbath  after 
Sabbath,  in  the  synagogue ;  and  with  reference  to  his 
expectations  regarding  the  Saviour  promised  to  his 
fathers,  he  must  have  been  taught,  like  others,  to  look 
for  some  great  temporal  sovereign  who  would  drive 
the  Romans  out  of  Judea,  and  make  it  once  more  a 
glorious  kingdom,  as  in  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon. 
Little  did  he  think,  at  that  very  moment,  the  Messiah 
was  toiling  unknown  and  unnoticed  as  a  carpenter  in  a 
workshop  of  Nazareth. 


CHAPTER  II. 


f  jic  Scholar. 


Fair  boy  !  the  wand'rings  of  thy  way 

It  is  not  mine  to  trace. 
Through  buoyant  youth's  exulting  day, 

Or  manhood's  bolder  race. 

What  discipline  thy  heart  may  need, 
What  clouds  may  veil  thy  sun, 

The  eye  of  God  alone  can  read, 
And  let  His  will  be  done. 


historian  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, in  speaking  of  the  boyhood  of  Luther,  tells  us  that 
his  father  had,  in  a  little  time,  saved  as  much  money  by 
hard  labour  as  enabled  him  to  erect  two  furnaces  at  his 
native  Mansfield  ;  and  from  the  profits  arising  from  his 
new  trade,  he  began  to  think  of  a  better  education  for 
his  boy.  "  He  wished  to  make  his  son  a  man  of  learn- 
ing ;  the  boy's  remarkable  aptness  and  persevering 
industry  inspired  John  (the  honest  miner)  with  lively 
hopes.  When  Martin,  therefore,  in  1497,  had  attained 
the  age  of  fourteen,  he  resolved  to  part  with  him,  and 
send  him  to  Magdeburg  to  the  school  of  the  Francis- 


20  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

cans.  His  mother  was  obliged  to  consent,  and  Martin 
prepared  to  quit  his  father's  house."  * 

Such  a  time  had  now  arrived  for  young  Saul  of  Tar- 
sus. He  had  got  what  education  a  Jewish  school  in 
the  city  of  his  birth  could  afford.  He  might  doubt- 
less have  carried  on  his  studies  much  further  in  the 
celebrated  Tarsus  university ;  but  his  father  would 
probably,  for  the  reason  given  at  the  close  of  last  chap- 
ter, be  averse  to  his  boy  mixing  with  Gentile  youths. 
He  might  be  afraid,  lest  in  a  heathen  seminary  any 
influence  might  be  used  to  abate  his  love  and  rever- 
ence for  the  faith  of  his  ancestors ;  he  therefore  deter- 
mined to  send  him  away  for  some  years  to  complete 
his  education,  probably  sharing  in  the  ambition  of  the 
humble  miner  of  Germany  to  make  him  a  distinguished 
scholar ;  or  rather,  what  to  a  Jew  was  the  highest 
of  all  honours,  that  he  should  become  a  scribe  or  doc- 
tor of  the  law. 

I  daresay  some  of  my  young  readers  may  remember 
with  what  sorrowful  feelings  they  found  themselves  for 
the  first  time  going  far  away  from  the  happy  scenes  of 
their  infancy  to  a  strange  place,  and  among  strange 
faces  and  friends.  I  doubt  not  Saul,  who,  when  he 
was  an  older  man,  chided  those  who  would  "  make 
him  weep,  and  break  his  heart,"  f  had  his  own  mingled 
thoughts  in  going  from  that  happy  mountain  home 
where  the  morning  of  life  had  been  spent.  But  there 
were  joyous  feelings  also  at  the  prospect  of  this  long 
journey ;  he  was  going  not  so  much  away  from  home 
as  to  home ;  for  although  he  never  had  seen  it,  Jeru- 
salem was  always  a  happy  "homeword"  to  every  Jew. 
From  their  earliest  childhood  they  were  taught  to  feel 

*  D'Aubigne's  History,  book  ii.  f  Acts  xxi.  13. 


THE  SCHOLAR.  21 

it  as  such.  The  gladdest  day  of  their  lives  was  that 
on  which  they  were  able  to  say,  "  Our  feet  shall  stand 
within  thy  gates,  0  Jerusalem  ! "  Every  thought 
about  Palestine,  its  hills,  valleys,  cities,  villages,  were 
holy  thoughts.  Often  would  the  Jews  of  Asia  Minor,  as 
they  returned  year  after  year  from  the  feasts,  pause  at 
Saul's  father's  dwelling,  and  lodge  for  the  night,  before 
crossing  the  heights  of  Mount  Taurus  to  their  own 
homes.  While  seated  there,  we  may  well  believe  the 
young  listener  would  often  and  again  have  heard  them 
speak  of  the  glories  of  Zion  and  the  temple.  When 
his  school-days  at  Tarsus,  therefore,  were  about  to  be 
concluded,  we  may  imagine,  in  such  an  ardent  mind  as 
his,  with  what  feelings  he  would  hear  his  father  telling 
him — "  I  am  going  ere  long  to  take  you  to  see  all  the 
glorious  things  spoken  of  the  city  of  God!" 

It  must  have  been  when  he  was  between  the  age  of 
eleven  and  fourteen  that  Saul  set  out  to  his  new  abode. 
We  cannot  suppose  it  likely  that  one  so  young  would 
be  allowed  to  go  alone.  His  father  would  himself  most 
probably  be  too  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  visit- 
ing the  city  of  his  people,  and  would  delight  to  be  the 
first  to  point  out  the  wonders  of  the  land  of  promise  to 
his  dear  boy.*  Neither  is  it  likely,  when  they  were  so 
near  the  sea,  that  they  would  attempt  the  long  journey 
by  land.  If  you  look  again  to  the  map,  you  will  see 
how  easily  they  could  sail  by  vessel.  We  may  imagine 
the  Hebrew  youth  bidding  an  affectionate  farewell  to 
his  old  friends  at  Tarsus ;  his  little  sister,  it  may  be, 
accompanying  him  to  the  ship  in  the  docks,  and,  with 
a  tear  in  her  eye,  following  him,  after  the  anchor  was 
weighed,  till  he  was  lost  from  her  sight  amid  the  other 

*  Howsou  and  Conybeare,  vol.  i.  p.  56. 


22  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

vessels  that  crowded  the  harbour.  We  may  imagine 
him  sailing  slowly  down  the  river,  which,  near  the 
town,  was  still  and  motionless  ;  some  hardy  Phoeni- 
cian captain  at  the  helm,  perhaps,  struck  with  the 
sharp  and  intelligent  features  of  the  Jewish  boy,  de- 
lighting to  give  him  his  first  ideas  of  a  seafaring  life. 
We  may  suppose  him  wandering  on  the  deck  until  the 
sun  has  set  behind  the  mountains  of  his  childhood. 
They  have  now  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Cydnus, 
twelve  miles  below  Tarsus.  Here  the  river  swells  out, 
before  joining  the  sea,  into  a  large  basin  or  lake,  which 
by  art  had  been  made  into  docks,  and  was  called  the 
port  of  Tarsus.*  By  and  by,  tliey  have  passed  the  pro- 
montory which  encloses  it,  and  the  silvery  moon  has 
risen  on  the  great  wilderness  of  waters  all  around. 

Another  day  finds  them  gliding  along  the  waves  of 
the  Mediterranean.  Its  surface  may  1  ave  been  the 
calm,  deep  blue  for  which  it  is  remaikible,  with  an 
unclouded  sky  looking  down  into  it.  Or  the  young 
voyager  may  have  had  the  words  of  the  Psalmist  of 
Israel  often  in  his  mind — "  They  that  go  down  to  the 
sea  in  ships,  that  do  business  in  great  waters ;  these 
see  the  works  of  the  Lord,  and  His  wonders  in  the  deep. 
For  He  commandeth,  and  raiseth  the  stormy  wind, 
which  lifteth  up  the  waves  thereof.  They  mount  up 
to  the  heaven,  they  go  down  again  to  the  depths.  .  .  . 
They  reel  to  and  fro,  and  stagger  like  a  drunken  man, 
and  are  at  their  wit's  end.  ...  He  maketh  the  storm 
a  calm,  so  that  the  waves  thereof  are  still. "t 

"See!"  we  may  imagine  his  father  saying  to  him,  as 
he  points  his  eye  to  something  in  the  far  east,  "  seest 
thou   yonder  white    mountain    peaks   like    our   own 

*  Slrabo,  quoted  by  Lewin.  t  Ps.  cvii.  23-29, 


THE  SCHOLAR.  23 

Taurus  1 — these  are  the  heights  of  Lebanon  ; "  and  the 
boy's  thoughts  wander  up  and  down  the  hazy  steeps, 
till  he  imagines  he  sees  them  clothed  with  dark 
cedars,  and  then  he  remembers  he  is  sailing  on  the 
very  waters  by  which  Solomon  got  these  giants  of  the 
forest  floated  on  rafts  for  the  building  of  the  temple. 
No  scene  in  the  holy  land  can  have  undergone  so  little 
change  since  the  days  of  Saul  as  the  appearance  of 
this  "  goodly  mountain."  The  picture  given,  therefore, 
by  a  recent  writer,  of  the  view  of  Lebanon  from  the 
sea,  describes  with  accuracy  what  the  eye  of  the  youth 
of  Tarsus  then  gazed  on.  "  At  sea  the  mountain  rises 
before  the  spectator  as  a  whole,  and  the  eye  can  pass 
leisurely  from  its  snowy  peaks  to  the  rich  gardens  at 
its  bottom.  The  spectator  never  wearies  in  gazing  on 
the  goodly  prospect  before  him.  The  undulating  line  of 
its  promontories  and  bays  extends  for  many  a  mile  along 
the  coast.  On  the  mountain  itself  terrace  rises  above 
terrace,  displaying  at  once  the  industry  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  the  fertility  of  the  mountain.  Villages,  with 
their  flat-roofed  houses,  are  seen  sweetly  placed  amidst 
groves  of  vines  and  mulberries,  or  plantations  of  sugar- 
cane, oranges,  and  lemons."  * 

But  they  have  passed  Lebanon — its  heights  are  re- 
ceding in  the  distance,  and  by  and  by  they  come  to  a 
bold  mountain,  with  rocky  front  jutting  out  into  the 
sea.  "  This,"  his  father  would  again  say,  "  is  Mount 
Carmel, — yonder  is  where  our  father  Elijah  stood. 
From  this  very  sea  he  brought  up  his  barrels  of  salt 
water  to  pour  into  his  dug  trenches,  and  from  yonder 
top  the  smoke  of  his  sacrifice  ascended  to  heaven  ! " 
Shepherds,  who  were  attracted  to  Carmel  by  the  "  ex- 

*  Seo  Wylie's  Modern  Judea,  p.  70. 


24  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL.    ■ 

cellency"  of  its  pastures,  may  have  been  looking  down 
at  the  moment  from  its  heights  of  pine  and  olive  on 
the  lonely  vessel  that  was  now  sailing  by  its  base. 
Little  did  they  know  the  value  of  the  youngest  mem- 
ber of  that  crew,  or  the  influence  that  one  life  in  its 
manhood  was  yet  to  exercise  on  the  world.  As  little  did 
the  young  voyager  himself  foresee  with  what  different 
feelings  he  would  make  the  same  voyage  in  after  times  ! 
He  was  now  full  of  boyish  glee — a  bright  world  before 
him  !  Forty  years  later,  a  care-worn  missionary,  his 
back  marked  with  scourging,  and  his  hands  hardened 
with  toil,  would  be  seen,  as  he  bounded  over  these 
same  waves,  lifting  up  his  dimmed  eye,  not  to  Carmel 
nor  to  Lebanon,  but  to  the  "  everlasting  hills,"  from 
whence  alone  came  his  aid. 

A  few  hours  more,  and  the  sails  are  lowered.  With 
a  joyous  heart,  Saul  sees  the  land  coming  nearer  and 
nearer  ;  they  are  within  sound  of  Jewish  voices  on  the 
shore ;  and  entering  among  many  vessels  into  a  spa- 
cious harbour,  they  find  themselves  safely  moored,  pro- 
bably in  the  newly-built  town  of  Cesarea,  one  of  the 
last  and  greatest  of  the  works  of  Herod.  The  Hebrew 
boy  is  treading  the  sacred  soil  of  Judea.* 

Soon  he  commences  the  remaining  land  journey. 
We  need  not  pause  to  describe  it, — the  more  so  as  the 
last  of  its  many  interesting  scenes  casts  all  the  others 
into  the  shade.  We  may  think  of  the  two  travellers 
standing  on  the  eastern  slope  of  a  gentle  eminence, 
where  for  the  first  time  the  glories  of  Jerusalem  open 
before  them.  — What  three-topped    hill  is    this,    its 


*  We  need  not  say  that,  in  describing  Saul's  journey,  only  a  probable 
account  of  his  route,  and  the  incidents  that  took  place  in  it,  can  be  given, 
la  this  we  have  followed  Howson  and  Conybeare  in  their  interesting 
na. -ration — pp.  57,  58. 


THE  SCHOLAR.  25 

sides  partially  clothed  with  wood,  rising  immediately 

behind  the  city  1     It  is  the  green  Mount  of  Olives the 

same  mountain  across  which  old  King  David  went 
weeping  and  bare-foot,  and  which  was  ere  long  to  bo 
trodden  (if  it  had  not  been  trodden  already)  by  Holier 
footsteps.  What  stately  roof  is  that,  which  seems  like 
a  sheet  of  solid  gold  glittering  in  the  sun,  with  pillars 
and  porticoes  all  round  about  it  ?  It  is  Solomon's 
famous  temple,  with  the  holy  of  holies, — where  the 
God  of  Israel  dwelt  in  visible  glory  !  Perhaps  at  the 
moment  Saul  saw  it,  the  smoke  of  the  morning  or 
evening  sacrifice  was  ascending.  And  what  is  that, 
towering  high  on  the  right,  nearer  where  they  are 
standing — a  noble  pile  of  building,  with  ranges  of  pil- 
lars, and  surrounded  wit!  lovely  gardens  ?  It  is  the 
royal  palace — the  same  in  which  David  and  Solomon 
once  lived — where  the  latter  erected  his  house  of  the 
forest  of  Lebanon,  and  which  King  Herod  had  now 
rebuilt  in  more  than  its  former  splendour.  Soon  the 
western  gateway  is  passed,  and  the  feet  of  the  young 
Cilician  boy  are  standing  within  "  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth" — "  the  city  of  the  Great  King." 

Without  pausing  to  describe  more  particularly  the 
sacred  spot  which  Saul  was  now  for  several  years  to 
make  his  home,  let  us  at  once  accompany  him  to 
the  place  where  most  of  his  time  was  to  be  spent.  It 
was  at  a  celebrated  school  in  Jerusalem.  There  were 
several  of  these  within  the  city  famous  for  their  learn- 
ing. But  one  of  the  chief  (if  not  the  very  chief)  was 
that  of  Hillel,  which  dated  its  origin  about  sixty  years 
before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Hillel,  the  founder,  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  father  of  old  Simeon,  who  took  the 
child  Jesus  in  his  arms  in  the  temple,  and  blessed  him. 


26  THE  FOGTtTEFS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

The  grandson  of  Hillel,  and  probably  the  son  of  Simeon, 
was  a  very  learned  and  eminent  Eabbi  of  the  name  of 
Gamaliel.  To  shew  in  what  esteem  his  learning  was 
held  by  the  Jews,  we  are  told  that  they  designated 
him  "  the  beanty  of  the  law."  We  know  from  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  that  "  he  was  had  in  reputation 
of  all  the  people."""'  We  have  reason  to  believe  he 
was  a  candid,  upright,  honourable  man — amiable  in 
himself,  and  beloved  by  all  who  were  acquainted  with 
him.  There  is  a  tradition  which  says  that  he  was  after- 
wards converted  to  Christianity  by  the  preaching  of 
Peter  and  John ;  but  this  does  not  seem  likely.  Indeed, 
it  is  to  be  feared  he  lived  and  died  a  zealous  Pharisee. 
Had  it  been  otherwise,  we  could  not  well  credit  what 
is  said  in  the  Targum,  that  another  learned  pupil, 
named  Onkelos,  spent  seventy  pounds  of  incense  at 
his  tomb,  out  of  respect  for  his  memory. 

Such  was  Saul's  teacher.  We  may  follow  the  pupil 
to  the  school,  where,  morning  after  morning,  he  was 
found  "  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,"  along  with  a  group  of 
other  ardent  students  like  himself.  Among  his  other 
school-fellows  was  very  possibly  Barnabas,  who  was,  in 
future  years,  his  travelling  companion  and  fellow- 
labourer  ;  also,  the  sons  of  Gamaliel,  Jesus  and  Simon 
— the  former  of  whom  became  high  priest.  The 
learned  teacher,  with  his  quick  eye  and  long  flowing 
beard,  is  seated  in  the  centre.  At  one  time  he  in- 
structs them  in  Greek,  at  another  in  Hebrew;  more 
seldom,  perhaps,  in  Latin.  By  far  the  greater  portion 
of  their  time  is  devoted  to  the  well-used  scroll  he  has 
by  him,  out  of  which  he  teaches  the  Jewish  law.  He 
explains  its  precepts  and  promises,  its  ceremonies,  pro- 

*  Acts  v.  34. 


THE  SCHOLAR.  27 

phecies,  and  types ;  although  the  Rabbi,  with  all  his 
wisdom,  had  his  own  eyes  blinded  to  the  greatest  of 
the  truths  he  was  trying  to  unfold. 

It  was  fortunate  Saul  had  a  liberal  instructor  like 
Gamaliel,  who  did  not  object  to  impart  to  his  scholars 
a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language.  Many  others  in 
Jerusalem,  at  that  time,  would  on  no  account  have 
done  so.  In  the  case  of  Saul,  it  formed  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  his  training  for  the  great  work  of  his 
future  life,  in  preaching  to  the  Gentiles.  Greek,  as 
I  have  already  said,  was  then  understood  and  spoken 
hi  many  countries  of  the  Roman  empire ;  and  we  find 
him  afterwards,  when,  on  different  occasions,  he  ad- 
dresses Athenians,  Corinthians,  and  Cretans,  making 
quotations  to  them  from  their  own  poets,  shewing  that 
he  must  have  been  familiar  with  their  writings.  We 
can  trace,  also,  in  his  future  epistles  and  letters,  the 
peculiar  way  in  which  he  had  been  trained  by  Gamaliel 
to  argue.  When  we  think  of  such  Jewish  schools,  we 
must  not  imagine  them  similar  to  our  own,  or  our  own 
colleges,  where  the  master  or  professor  only  is  the 
examinator.  The  Jewish  doctor  encouraged  the 
youths  under  him  to  question  and  cross- question  one 
another — he  himself,  too,  being  asked  by  them  in 
turn  about  anything  they  did  not  understand.  It  was 
a  school  for  debate,  for,  in  this  way,  the  Jews  consi- 
dered the  minds  of  their  youth  to  be  best  trained  for 
sharpness  and  acuteness.  A  question  was  started, 
objections  were  raised  to  it,  and  then  these  objections 
were  answered.  If  you  look  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  you  will  see  more  than  one  example  of  how 
Paul  used  this  form  of  debate  or  dialogue  for  the 
defence  and  explanation  of  Christian  doctrine.     "  What 


28  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

advantage,  then,  hath  the  Jew,  and  what  profit  is  there 
of  circumcision  1 "  *  "  What  shall  we  say,  then  1  Shall 
we  continue  in  sin,  that  grace  may  abound  ?"t 

We  have  good  reason  to  imagine  that  the  young 
Tarsus  stranger,  as  well  as  his  companions  in  the 
school  of  Hillel,  loved  their  master,  and  listened  with 
attention  and  reverence  to  his  instructions.  The  quick 
mind  of  Saul  grew  more  in  love  every  day  with  the 
law  and  the  religion  of  his  fathers.  As  he  himself  tells 
us,  "I  made  progress  in  the  Jews'  religion  above  many 
my  equals  (those  of  the  same  age  and  standing  with  me) 
in  my  own  nation,  being  more  exceedingly  zealous  of 
the  traditions  of  my  fathers."^.  The  thorough  study  of 
the  ancient  Scriptures  in  such  schools  accounts  for  the 
readiness  he  shews  in  his  after  life  in  quoting  passages 
from  the  Old  Testament.  Writers  have  noted  no  less 
than  eighty-eight  quotations,  one  half  of  which  seem  to 
have  been  from  memoiy.  I  doubt  not  the  eye  of  the 
old  Rabbi,  as  he  surveyed  the  little  countenances  that 
surrounded  him,  often  fell  with  peculiar  hope  upon 
that  of  the  Cilician  youth.  Perhaps  he  expected  that, 
when  his  own  head  was  laid  in  the  grave,  the  young 
Tarsian  would  take  his  place  as  a  great  Jewish  doctor. 
But  "  God's  thoughts  are  not  as  man's  thoughts."  That 
studious  boy  was  training  for  a  nobler  use ! 

The  thought  may  occur — did  Saul  at  this  time, 
when  he  was  in  Jerusalem,  never  meet  any  of  those 
with  whom  he  was  afterwards  to  be  joined  in  such 
sacred  bonds  *?  Did  he  never  see  any  of  the  young 
fishermen  of  Galilee,  when  they  came  with  their  fathers 
and  friends  to  attend  the  great  annual  feasts  1     Did  he 

*  Romans  iii.  1. 

t  Rom.  vi.  1.    Sec  also  Rom  iii.  9,  iv.  1,  ix.  14 ;  Lewiu,  vol.  i.  p.  11. 

J  Gal.  i.  14. 


THE  SCHOLAR.  29 

never  see  the  young  Baptist,  before  his  voice  was  heard 
in  the  deserts  of  Jordan?  or,  more  than  all,  did  he 
never  see  the  blessed  Saviour — "  the  holy  child  Jesus" 
— as  he  came,  year  after  year,  with  Joseph  and  Mary, 
and  mingled  in  the  crowds  at  the  temple'?  Most 
probably  he  did  see  one  or  all;  but  if  so,  they  were 
unknown  to  one  another.  It  has  been  thought  by 
some,  that  Gamaliel  was  more  than  probably  one  of  the 
doctors  in  the  temple  whom  Jesus,  when  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age,  astonished  by  asking  questions. 
If  this  be  the  case,  possibly  Saul  may  have  been  there 
in  company  with  his  teacher,  and  heard  the  tender 
voice  of  one  who  was  afterwards  to  claim  him  as 
his  most  "  chosen  vessel."  *  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the 
occasion  passed  by ;  and  we  shall  end  this  chapter  by 
leaving  our  readers  to  imagine  the  future  apostle, 
seated,  year  after  year,  at  the  feet  of  his  instructor, 
having  his  head  stored  with  learning,  and  his  faculties 
ripened  and  matured,  for  great  duties  and  great  ser- 
vices, which  at  the  time  he  little  dreamt  of. 

What  a  bright  future  must  have  seemed  to  his  com- 
panions, and  perhaps  to  himself,  to  be  opening  before 
him!  God  had  given  him,  as  his  inheritance,  the 
greatest  of  all  wealth — the  wealth  of  intellect — the 
riches  of  a  cultivated  mind.  He  was  active,  bold, 
eloquent,  virtuous,  learned.  He  gives  every  promise 
of  future  greatness.  The  army  of  Titus  is,  in  a  few 
brief  years,  to  be  with  their  battering-rams  at  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem ;  and  if  we  wrere  asked  to  point  out 
one  in  the  whole  nation  of  Israel,  who  gives  best  pro- 
mise of  acting  the  hero  in  that  terrible  conflict — head- 
ing the  ranks  of  his  desponding  countrymen,  and  keep- 

*  Acts  ix.  15, 


30  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

ing  back,  for  a  while  at  least,  the  Roman  eagles  from 
their  prey — we  should,  without  doubt,  point  to  that 
quick-eyed  youth  who  has  battle-fields  marked  out  for 
him,  nobler  far  than  Roman  valour  ever  contested.  A 
conquest  is  to  be  his,  greater  than  the  world's  greatest 
victors.  Meanwhile,  he  is  learning  lessons  of  bitterest 
hatred  to  that  truth  which  he  was  afterwards  to  pro- 
claim with  a  giant's  voice.  He  was  now  taught  to 
boast  of  nothing,  save  the  traditions  of  his  fathers — 
the  pride  of  his  birth — the  distinction  of  his  sect — the 
glory  of  his  nation.  We  know  not  if  Gamaliel  lived  to 
read  in  a  letter,  sent  by  this  boy  or  Tarsus,  in  after 
years,  to  some  poor  Christians,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should 

glory,  SAVE  IN  THE  CROSS  OF  THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST!" 


CHAPTER  IN. 


Foremost  and  nearest  to  His  throne, 
By  perfect  robes  of  triumph  known, 
And  likest  Him  in  look  and  tone — 
The  holy  Stephen  kneels." 

Christian  Year. 


\f  w  e  must  now  pass  over  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  years.  The  period  of  Saul's  boyhood  was  over, 
and  he  was  entering  on  manhood  at  the  age  of  thirty 
or  upwards.  He  had  probably,  many  years  before  this, 
left  Gamaliel's  school  at  Jerusalem,  and  was  once 
more  at  Tarsus,  pursuing  in  private,  or  in  the  schools 
there,  different  branches  of  knowledge.  We  may  take 
for  granted,  that,  before  leaving  the  Holy  City,  he  had 
received  the  lowest  "  degree"  of  learning,"  which  was 
known  among  the  Jews  by  the  term  "  Bab;"  and  per- 
haps, too,  from  being  so  distinguished  among  his  fel- 
low-students, he  may  have  received  the  next  highest 
title,  viz.,  that  of  "  Rabbi."  There  was  only  one  higher 
than  these,  which  was  reserved  for  seven  individuals 
who  had  attained  to  a  great  age,  as  well  as  to  great 
learning,  such  as  Gamaliel ;  it  was  called  "  Kabbah  "  or 
c 


34  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

"  Rabban"  This,  also,  the  young  Tarsian  scholar  might, 
with  confidence,  have  looked  forward  to,  had  he  not 
learned,  ere  long,  to  "  count  all  these  titles  of  earthly 
wisdom  as  loss,"  for  the  excellency  of  a  higher  "  know- 
ledge." 

If  we  have  dismissed  in  silence  twenty  years  of  his 
life,  it  is  not  because  these  years  have  no  interest 
to  us.  They  were,  indeed,  the  most  eventful  time  in 
all  the  6000  years  of  this  world's  history.  The  Saviour 
of  mankind  had  lived  in  them.  He  had  lived  his  holy 
life,  and  died,  on  Calvary's  cross,  his  bitter  death.  A 
new  dispensation  had  been  ushered  in  upon  the  earth 
— "old  things  had  passed  away,  and  all  things  were 
made  new." 

We  may  imagine  the  future  apostle,  then  at  the 
age  of  thirty  or  upwards,  once  more  at  his  native 
Tarsus.  He  never  makes  mention,  in  any  of  his  writ- 
ings, of  the  public  ministry  of  Christ,  or  of  his  miracles 
and  discourses.  It  is  not  probable,  therefore,  that  he 
had  continued  to  reside  at  Jerusalem  after  finishing  his 
education.  Had  he  done  so,  it  is  reasonable  to  think 
he  would  often  have  spoken,  like  John,  of  what  "  he  had 
heard,  and  seen  with  his  eyes,  and  looked  upon" — the 
mighty  works  and  the  holy  words  of  Him  who  "  spake 
as  never  man  spake."*  If  we  are  correct  in  supposing 
that  he  had  once  more  gone  to  his  native  city,  many 
changes,  doubtless,  had  occurred  since  we  last  found  him 
there,  while  yet  a  boy,  climbing  the  heights  of  Mount 
Taurus,  or  watching  the  foam  as  it  dashed  over  the 
falls  of  the  Cydnus.     His  sister  had  now  grown  to  be  a 

*  We  follow  in  this  the  view  adopted  by  most,  although  there  are 
other  opinions  advanced  by  learned  writers  as  to  the  reason  of  Paul's  silence 
on  this  subject. 


THE  PERSECUTOR.  35 

woman,  and  was  probably  married — the  mother  of  one 
we  shall  find  afterwards  mentioned  towards  the  close 
of  the  apostle's  life.  The  quiet  of  his  home,  too,  must 
have  been  disturbed,  during  his  absence,  by  civil  war. 
A  Roman  historian  tells  us  that  Piso,  a  former  gover- 
nor of  Syria,  made  an  attempt  to  conquer  the  country 
for  himself — that,  for  this  purpose,  he  gathered  the 
warlike  chiefs  of  Mount  Taurus  together,  and  pitched 
his  hostile  camp  at  the  town  of  Celenderis,  not  far  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Cydnus.*  We  have  reason  to  believe, 
however,  that,  before  the  return  of  Gamaliel's  pupil, 
all  was  quiet  again. 

Let  us  leave  him  for  a  little  under  his  father's 
roof,  busily  carrying  on  his  studies  in  Greek  and 
Hebrew — or,  from  time  to  time,  making  use  of  his 
learning  in  the  synagogue  —  while  we  glance  at  the 
position  and  prospect  of  that  Church  called  "Chris- 
tian," of  which  he  was  ere  long  to  be  the  great  apostle. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  risen  from  the  grave, 
and  appeared  again  and  again  to  his  disciples.  He 
had  taken  them  up,  after  forty  days,  to  the  top  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  and,  while  talking  with  them  "  con- 
cerning the  kingdom,"  and  pronouncing  a  parting  bless- 
ing, "a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight."  The 
sorrowing  eleven  were  left  alone,  and  returned  with  sad 
hearts  to  Jerusalem.  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost. 
While  it  was  their  dear  Lord  and  Master's  last  request 
to  preach  his  Gospel  to  "  every  creature,"  they  were  to 
"begin  at  Jerusalem.'"  They  assembled,  first  of  all,  in  a 
small  upper  room.  There  were  but  120  of  them. 
There  they  began  with  what  all  the  great  and  impor- 
tant  duties   of  life   should   be  begun   and   ended  — 

*  Tacitus 


36  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

prayer  to  God  to  help  them  in  their  great  work,  and 
then  they  proceeded  to  proclaim  the  name  and  religion 
of  the  risen  Saviour.  Their  first  sermon  was  a  never- 
to-be-forgotten  one.  Peter  preached  it,  and  3000 
Jews  were  converted  to  the  new  faith.  Many  of  these 
had  come  from  far  distant  parts  of  the  world,  to  attend 
the  great  feast  of  Pentecost,  and,  when  the  festival 
was  finished,  they  returned  back  to  their  several 
homes,  and  told  all  the  wondrous  things  they  had  seen 
and  heard. 

The  different  sects  in  Jerusalem  were  alarmed  at  the 
progress  the  "  Nazarenes "  (as  they  called  them  in 
mockery)  were  making.  They  resolved,  if  they  could, 
to  crush  the  infant  Church.  The  Sadducees  had  now 
the  greatest  influence.  To  their  party  the  high  priest 
belonged.  And  as  the  apostles  of  Jesus  dwelt,  in  their 
discourses,  more  especially  on  His  resurrection,  this 
sect  were  more  violent  in  their  opposition  than  any 
others;  for  you  are  aware  that  the  Sadducees  denied 
altogether  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection.  They  saw 
that,  in  young  Saul  of  Tarsus,  with  his  energy,  and 
zeal,  and  learning,  they  had  one  in  every  way  quali- 
fied to  carry  out  their  purposes  of  vengeance  against 
the  followers  of  Jesus.  He  was  willing  enough  to 
listen  to  the  call.  His  proud  spirit  could  not  for  a 
moment  believe  that  that  meek  "  Man  of  sorrows" — 
whose  only  birthright  seemed  poverty — who  had  lately 
expired,  like  a  common  felon,  on  the  cross,  could  be  the 
Messiah  whom  he  and  his  fathers  had  looked  for. 
Would  the  great  Shiloh,  of  whom  the  patriarch  Jacob 
spake — the  "  Prince  of  Peace,"  of  whom  Isaiah  sung — 
have  none  but  twelve  peasants  of  Galilee  for  his  com- 
panions, and  make  these  the  teachers  of  the  world? 


THE  PERSECUTOR.  37 

No,  no;  the  manger  of  Bethlehem,  the  carpenter's 
shop  at  Nazareth,  the  cross  of  Calvary,  the  fishermen 
disciples — all  shocked  the  pride  of  the  young  Pharisee. 
The  very  thought  of  a  Messiah  so  lowly  seemed  an  in- 
sult to  God  and  to  the  whole  Jewish  nation.  He  had 
thought,  at  first,  that  the  new  religion  of  this  "  one 
Jesus"  would  soon  be  forgotten — that,  after  this  death 
of  shame  and  humiliation,  all  his  other  followers  would, 
like  his  apostles,  have  forsaken  him  and  fled.  But 
when  he  saw  the  sect  growing  daily  in  strength,  he 
resolved  to  do  God  service,  by  entering  with  his  whole 
soul  on  the  work  of  persecution. 

There  was  a  holy  man  who  rose  into  note  at  this 
time  among  the  disciples  of  Jesus  ;  his  name  was  Ste- 
phen, one  of  the  seven  deacons  of  the  infant  Church, 
chosen  to  take  charge  of  the  money  collected  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor.  He  is  described  by  Jerome,  and 
some  of  the  early  fathers,  as  a  person  of  great  learn- 
ing and  eloquence.  In  Scripture  he  is  spoken  of  as  "  a 
man  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  He  was 
bold  in  the  cause  of  his  crucified  but  now  exalted 
Lord.  He  went  day  after  day  into  the  synagogue, 
disputing  with  the  learned  men  and  doctors,  and  try- 
ing to  shew  them,  from  their  own  Old  Testament  scrip- 
tures, that  Jesus  was  the  true  Messiah.  We  are  told 
(in  Acts  vi.  9,  10)  that  among  these  synagogues  into 
which  he  entered  was  that  of  "  the  Cilicians ; "  and  we 
have  reason  to  believe,  that  among  those  whom  this 
"  devout  man  "  addressed,  was  one  who  had  again  left 
his  native  Tarsus  and  come  up  to  Jerusalem. 

It  is  more  than  likely  that  the  "young  man  Saul"* 
(who  is  now  again  brought  before  our  notice)  often 

*  Acts  vii.  58. 


28  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

and  again  disputed  with  Stephen ;  that  all  the  powers 
of  argument  he  had  learned  so  well  under  Gamaliel's 
teaching  were  put  in  force ;  but  that  he,  like  the  other 
Jews,  "  were  not  able  to  resist  the  wisdom  and  spirit" 
with  which  the  holy  deacon  spake.*  Their  malice  was 
excited,  and  they  resolved  to  have  him  condemned. 
How  can  they  best  succeed  ?  False  witnesses  are  hired 
to  convict  him  of  speaking  blasphemous  words  against 
the  law  and  the  temple,  "  against  Moses,  and  against 
God."  No  charge  could  more  certainly  rouse  the  pas- 
sions of  the  Jews  against  the  accused  than  this.  "  "What ! 
this  Nazarene  to  assert  that  all  we  love  as  most  sacred 
is  to  be  destroyed  ! — the  laiv,  which  our  great  father 
Moses  received  from  God  himself  on  Sinai,  to  be  abo- 
lished ! — the  great  temple  of  Solomon,  the  wonder  and 
glory  of  the  world,  whither  for  ages  on  ages  '  the  tribes 
have  gone  up,  even  the  tribes  of  the  Lord,  unto  the 
testimony  of  Israel,'  was  all  its  magnificence  now  to 
pass  away  ! — were  they  to  see  no  more  their  high 
priests  in  their  splendid  robes  ! — the  smoke  of  their 
morning  and  evening  sacrifices  ! — to  hear  no  more  the 
music  of  the  timbrel,  and  harp,  and  stringed  instru- 
ments at  their  sacred  feasts,  or  the  silver  trumpet  of 
jubilee  pealing  over  the  land  !  It  is  the  height  of  blas- 
phemy !  No  sentence  can  be  too  severe,  no  death  too 
terrible  for  such  a  scoffer  as  this."  These,  doubtless, 
would  be  the  feelings  alike  of  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  ; 
and  we  can  readily  calculate  what  the  result  will  be 
when  Stephen  is  dragged  before  the  Sanhedrim — the 
great  Jewish  court  of  law — to  answer  to  the  charges 
thus  preferred  against  him. 

A  great  meeting  is  called  of  this  tribunal.      The 

*  Acts  vi.  10. 


THE  PERSECUTOR.  39 

place  in  which  they  were  wont  to  assemble  was  a  hall 
called  "  Gazith"  or  the  " stone  chamber,"  situated  close 
by  the  wall  of  the  temple,  with  the  rocky  side  of 
Mount  Moriah  immediately  beneath.  Before  this 
time,  indeed,  the  Jews  were  forbidden  to  meet  here. 
They  had  religious  scruples  about  Gentiles  crossing  the 
sacred  enclosures  ;  and  the  Romans,  not  unreasonably, 
dreaded  lest  the  holding  of  assemblies,  in  a  place  they 
were  not  permitted  to  enter,  might  become  a  danger- 
ous privilege.*  In  the  present  instance,  however,  the 
prohibition  had  been  winked  at,  and  the  "  stone  cham- 
ber "  was  the  place  of  meeting. 

Our  young  readers  may  fancy  to  themselves  the 
scene.  The  president  of  the  assembly,  the  high  priest 
(Theophilus  the  Sadducee,  one  of  the  sons  of  Annas) 
occupies  a  raised  seat  at  the  upper  end  of  the  room ; 
other  seventy-one  members  are  ranged  in  a  half-circle 
around  him,  consisting  of  the  heads  of  the  twenty-four 
courses  of  priests,  twenty-four  elders,  and  twenty-four 
scribes.  Stephen  stands  in  front  of  his  judges ;  but 
he  is  not  afraid — his  God  and  Saviour  is  with  him. 
Indeed,  at  that  moment,  while  the  eye  of  Saul,  along 
with  the  others,  is  fixed  with  rage  on  the  prisoner,  the 
young  Tarsian  sees  what  he  never  afterwards  could 
forget — a  bright  heavenly  light  or  glory  resting  on  the 
face  of  Stephen,  as  if  the  flame  of  truth  in  his  inner 
soul  was  seen  reflected  on  his  countenance.  Saul 
looks  on  the  faces  of  the  judges ;  he  sees  them,  as  his 
own  was,  flashing  with  fire  and  indignation ;  but  the 
eye  of  the  first  martyr  is  directed  up  to  heaven ;  with 
him,  all  is  peace  ! 

The  great  charge,  as  we  have  said,  brought  against 

*  Lewin. 


40  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

him  was,  that  he  had  foretold  the  destruction  of  the 
temple,  and  "the  change  of  the  customs  which  Moses  had 
formerly  delivered  to  them."  *  The  president  hears 
the  false  witnesses  first ;  after  they  state  their  charges, 
he  turns  towards  Stephen  and  puts  the  usual  question, 
whether  he  pleads  "guilty,  or  not  guilty."  "Are  these 
things  so?"  The  prisoner,  unmoved,  with  a  calm  and 
clear  voice  enters  on  his  defence.  He  begins  by  mi- 
nutely rehearsing  the  leading  events  in  the  history  of 
their  nation,  from  the  calling  of  Abraham  and  the  Exodus 
from  Egypt,  to  the  building  of  the  temple  during  the 
reign  of  Solomon  ;  he  declares  that  he  was  no  enemy 
to  the  Old  Testament  rites — these  he  loved  in  common 
with  all  Jews ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  shewed  that 
Moses  himself  had  spoken  of  a  time  when  his  law  would 
be  displaced  by  a  better  dispensation,  quoting  the  very 
words  of  the  great  lawgiver — "  A  Prophet  shall  the 
Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto  you  of  your  brethren 
like  unto  me;  Him  shall  ye  hear."\  He  charged  his 
hearers  with  trusting  too  much  to  outward  privileges, 
and  sinfully  resisting  the  grace  and  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
as  their  fathers  did.  The  whole  assembly  are  roused 
into  fury  !  Like  wild  beasts  springing  upon  their  prey, 
"  they  gnashed  upon  him  with  their  teeth."  %  As  their 
rage,  however,  increases,  so  also  does  his  calm  compo- 
sure ;  a  holier  brightness  gathers  over  his  countenance. 
We  cannot  wonder  at  it ;  for  we  are  told  that  then 
"  he  looked  up  into  heaven,  and  saw  the  glory  of  God, 
and  Jesus  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God."§  He 
looked  far  above  the  cruel  assembly  gathered  in  the 
earthly  Jerusalem.      He  was  gazing  upon  "  the  gene- 

*  Acts  vi.  14.  t  Acts  vii.  37. 

%  Acts  vii.  54.  §  Acts  vii.  55. 


THE  PERSECUTOR.  41 

ral  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born  in  heaven." 
The  veil  of  the  skies  had  been  drawn  aside.  He  saw 
holy  angels  smiling  upon  him;  and,  better  than  all, 
that  blessed  Saviour  he  had  probably  last  seen  expir- 
ing in  agony  on  the  cross,  "  standing  on  the  right  hand 
of  God."  As  an  early  father  says,  "  not  '  seated,'  but 
'standing,'  as  if  he  rose  from  his  glorious  throne  to 
welcome  his  first  apostle  and  martyr." 
Beautifully  does  a  Christian  poet  say — 

"  Well  might  you  guess  what  vision  bright 
Was  present  to  his  raptured  sight, 
Even  as  reflected  streams  of  light 
Their  solar  source  betray  ; 
"  The  glory  which  our  God  surrounds, 
The  Son  of  man— th'  atoning  wounds — 
He  sees  them  all,— and  earth's  dull  bounds 
Are  melting  fast  away." 

But  he  can  expect  no  mercy  from  the  hands  of  men ; 
they  saw  no  such  bright  heavenly  vision  !  The  seventy - 
two  are  all  against  him.  "They  cried  with  a  loud 
voice,  and  stopped  their  ears,  and  ran  upon  him  with 
one  accord."  In  that  loud  voice  there  mingled,  doubt- 
less, the  shout  of  the  young  rabbi  of  Tarsus.  If  there 
was  one  event  in  his  life  more  than  another  Saul  after- 
wards bitterly  wept  over,  surely  it  was  that  mad  rush 
he  made  on  an  innocent  and  holy  saint,  and  when  he 
helped  to  urge  him,  unresisting  along,  from  the  place  of 
trial  to  the  place  of  death.  It  was  contrary  to  the 
Jewish  law  to  commit  murder  inside  the  walls  of  the 
city ;  they  must  therefore  for  some  moments  repress 
their  rage  till  they  are  outside  the  sacred  enclosures. 
They  drag  their  victim  through  the  gate,  which  still 
bears  his  name,  and  by  which,  in  ages  long  after,  the 
brave  and  victorious  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  conducted  his 
armies  with  loud  acclamations  in  entering  Jerusalem. 


42  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Soon  they  reach  the  scene  of  violence.  It  is  supposed 
to  be  a  lonely  spot,  low  down  in  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat,  not  far  off  from  where  Stephen's  Saviour  had  suf- 
fered far  more  terrible  agonies  in  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane.*  The  brook  Kedron  is  murmuring  in  his 
ear.  He  could  not  fail  to  remember  that  Jesus  too 
listened  to  its  sound  in  that  darkest  night  the  world 
ever  saw.  What  a  "mixed  multitude,"  we  may 
imagine,  are  present !  There  are  the  idle  mob  from  the 
city,  who  are  ever  hanging  on,  ready  to  take  part  in 
any  tumult,  and  to  be  witnesses  of  savage  deeds. 
There  are  priests  and  scribes,  by  their  words  and 
gestures  stirring  up  the  passions  of  the  rabble,  and 
hurrying  them  to  execute  with  all  speed  the  act  of 
cruelty.  While,  lurking  in  the  crowd,  afraid  to  utter 
a  word  which  might  bring  down  on  themselves  similar 
vengeance,  are  the  trembling  disciples  of  the  same 
Master  whose  cross  Stephen  so  meekly  bears.  Who 
is  to  begin  the  bloody  work  1  A  number  of  stones 
lying  in  the  channel  of  the  Kedron,  or  that  have  Mien 
from  the  rocky  ridges  of  Jehoshaphat,  are  the  weapons 
of  death.  According  to  the  Jewish  law,  it  is  the  wit- 
nesses in  the  trial  who  must  cast  the  first.  And  these 
seem  resolved  to  effect  their  purpose  thoroughly ;  for 
their  upper  loose  garments  are  cast  aside,  that  their 
arms  may  be  able  to  dash  the  stones  with  sufficient 
force.  There  is  one  close  by,  who  is  ready  enough  to 
assist.  They  lay  down  their  coats  at  his  feet  to  take 
charge  of  them.  It  is  a  young  man,  described  by  early 
writers  as  being  "  short  in  stature,  of  a  fair  complexion, 
and  with  expressive  eyes."  His  name  is  Saul!  The 
dreadful   tragedy  is   soon  over — stone    after   stone  is 

*  See  the  picture  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter. 


THE  PERSECUTOR.  43 

hurled  upon  that  bruised  and  tortured  body.  The 
green  turf  is  dyed  with  the  first  martyr's  blood.  But 
he  utters  not  one  revengeful  word — a  new  spirit  has 
been  introduced  into  the  world.  Like  his  Lord  before 
him,  he  prays  with  his  dying  lips  for  his  murderers, 
and  then  "  falls  asleep." 

"  With  such  a  Friend  and  Witness  near, 
No  form  of  death  could  make  him  fear; 
Calm  amid  showers  of  stones  he  kneels, 
And  only  for  his  murderers  feels!  "  * 

That  prayer  was  heard  for  one  at  least  of  those  who 
were  in  that  crowd. — There  is  a  cave  or  grotto  still 
pointed  out  in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  where  it  is 
said  the  murderers  dragged  the  mangled  body  of  the 
martyr  when  life  was  extinct.t 

"The  shades  oj.'  evening  closed  around  that  gnilty 
city,  which  had  that  day  added  another  sin  to  her  cata- 
logue of  crimes,  and  maintained  her  ancient  character 
as  a  murderer  of  God's  messengers.  The  multitude  had 
dispersed  to  their  homes.  The  priests  were  recounting 
with  joy  the  events  of  the  day,  and  the  disciples  were 
weeping  in  secret  the  loss  of  one  so  honoured  and  be- 
loved. But  everywhere  was  heard  the  name  of  one 
who  had  stood  prominent  in  these  fearful  scenes. 
Among  the  groups  who  lingered  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets,  and  talked  over  these  transactions — at  the  fire- 
side, where  Jewish  mothers  heard  with  glistening  eyes 
of  this  new  triumph  of  their  faith — in  that  mourning 
assembly,  where  the  Nazarenes  blended  their  tears  and 
prayers,  the  deeds  of  the  youthful  Saul  were  canvassed 
with  joy  on  the  one  hand,  and  terror  on  the  other.  It 
seemed  a  sad  day  for  the  religion  that  had  lost  her 
eloquent  and  earnest  preacher,  and  not  less  bright  and 

■;  John  Newton,  f  Maundrell. 


44  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

promising  for  that  ancient,  system  which  had  called 
forth  a  champion  worthy  of  her  happiest  times.  The 
rich  and  poor,  the  Pharisee  and  Sadducee,  were  lond  in 
praise  of  the  rising  zealot,  and  everything  seemed  to 
augur  for  him  a  career  of  high  distinction.  The  path 
was  already  open  for  Saul  to  the  most  exalted  honours 
which  a  Jew  could  receive  from  the  rulers  of  his 
pepple."* 

The  Bible  tells  us  nothing  as  to  how  Saul  himself 
must  have  really  felt  at  Stephen's  death.  I  doubt  not, 
though  he  concealed  it,  there  were  other  feelings  that 
mingled  with  rage  and  bigotry,  as  the  dead  body  lay 
at  his  feet,  and  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  "  sore  lamen- 
tation" made  by  sorrowing  friends  over  their  "  loved 
and  lost "  one.  He  must  have  thought  to  himself — Can 
all  that  peace,  and  calmness,  and  prayer,  and  forgiveness, 
and  love  have  been  that  of  a  hypocrite  1  Meanwhile, 
however,  we  know  that  he  did  go  away  from  the  place 
a  furious  zealot  as  before.  Perhaps  he  thought  he 
saw  in  that  tranquil  death  only  the  power  of  the  evil 
one  at  work  on  a  naturally  pure  and  holy  mind,  tempt- 
ing him  to  desert  the  faith  of  his  fathers  for  a  miser- 
able heresy.  This  would  only  give  him  the  greater 
desire  to  extinguish  it,  and  prevent  others  from  falling 
into  the  same  snare.  But  there  were  thoughts  and 
impressions,  notwithstanding,  made  on  his  heart,  which 
he  never  could  forget,  and  which  he  never  did  forget, 
when  he  came  afterwards  to  follow  in  Stephen's  steps, 
and  to  pant  for  Stephen's  crown,  t 

*  TJie  Apostle  Paul :  a  Biography.    1854. 
t  See  Acts  xxii.  19. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


%\t  Cartel 


"  See  me,  see  me— once  a  rebel, 
Vanquish'd  at  His  cross  I  lie ; 
Cross!  to  tame  earth's  proudest  able! 
Who  was  e'er  so  proud  as  1 1 
He  convinced  me ;  He  subdued  me ; 
He  chastised  me ;  He  renew'd  me. 
The  nails  that  nail'd — the  spear  that  slew  Him, 
Transfix'd  my  heart,  and  bound  it  to  Him. 
See  me,  see  me — once  a  rebel, 
Vanquish'd  at  His  cross  I  lie." 

"Grace  came,  omnipotent  grace,  and  the  rampart  of  that  great 
soul  fell  like  the  walls  of  Jericho;  the  impregnable  citadel  was  car- 
ried in  an  hour,  and  all  its  ample  magazines  were  redeemed  for  the 
service  of  the  Lord." 


he  flames  of  persecution  were  now 
fairly  lighted.  The  Jewish  Sanhedrim 
waxed  fiercer  than  ever  in  their  hatred 
to  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  Soon,  alas !  did  the  Sa- 
viour's words  come  true,  John  xvi.  2 — "They  shall 
put  you  out  of  the  synagogues  :  yea,  the  time  cometh, 
that  whosoever  killeth  you  will  think  that  he  doeth 
God  service."  We  are  not,  indeed,  warranted  to  sup- 
pose that  the  Sanhedrim  were  permitted  to  persecute 
unto  death.  Stephen's  martyrdom  was  doubtless  an 
act  of  treason  against  the  government  of  the  land,  and, 
at  other  times,  would  have  been  dealt  with  as  such. 
But  Pilate  had  now  been  deposed,  his  successor  was 
not  yet  appointed,  and  the  Jews  felt  themselves  at 
guilty  liberty  to   commit  this   cold-blooded  murder. 


48  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

Although  it  is  not  probable  the  repetition  of  such 
a  violation  of  law  would  be  allowed,  no  such  inter- 
ference was  made  in  the  case  of  lesser  cruelties. 

The  "  young  man  Saul,"  now  advancing  to  manhood, 
is  elected  one  of  the  council ;  and  he  seems  to  exceed 
all  the  others  in  the  amount  of  his  rage  and  fury 
against  the  followers  of  Jesus.  "  He  made  havoc  of 
the  Church,"  seizing  not  only  on  men,  and  making 
them  the  objects  of  his  cruelty,  but  women  also  were 
bound  in  chains  and  put  in  prison.  Sometimes  he 
was  not  even  satisfied  with  this,  but  had  individuals 
ready  to  whip  and  scourge  them.  By  making  them 
thus  suffer  torture,  he  tried  to  induce  them  to  blas- 
pheme the  name  of  Jesus. 

Think,  in  this  happy  and  favoured  age  and  country 
of  ours,  what  all  these  poor  Christians  must  have  been 
suffering  then  in  Jerusalem  !  The  old  and  infirm — the 
Simeons  and  Annas — who  had  had  the  evening  of  their 
days  gladdened  by  that  bright  Gospel  Sun  which  others 
had  only  seen  afar  off — think  of  their  tottering  frames 
borne  down  with  heavy  irons,  their  hoary  locks  in  vain 
appealing  for  mercy !  Think  of  the  daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem— the  wives  and  mothers  who  once  had  wept  for 
the  Lord  they  so  loved,  when  they  saw  Him  carrying 
his  cross — now  called  to  weep  and  carry  that  cross  for 
themselves — their  helpless  children  torn  from  them 
because  they  would  not  deny  the  name  of  Him  who 
was  dearer  than  the  dearest  on  earth !  In  connexion 
with  these  dreadful  doings,  the  cruelty  of  the  Rabbi  of 
Tarsus  was  known  hundreds  of  miles  off.  "  How  much 
evil  he  had  done  to  the  saints  of  God  at  Jerusalem  ! "  * 
Little  was  he  aware,  at  the  time,  how  literally  true 

*  Acts  ix.  13. 


THE  CONVERT.  49 

the  saying  of  his  future  Lord  and  Master  would  be  in 
his  case — "With  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be 
measured  to  you  again!"  He  had  taken  part  in 
"stoning,"  "scourging,"  "imprisoning."  In  all  the 
three,  he  himself  was  yet  to  "  bear,  in  his  own  body, 
the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus  !" 

I  do  not  think,  however,  that  we  can  argue  from 
this,  as  many  have  done,  that  Saul  was  naturally  of  a 
savage  and  cruel  nature.  He  was  a  true  and  sincere 
worshipper  of  God,  and  a  person  of  correct  life.  He  tells 
us  himself  that  "  as  touching  the  righteousness  of  the 
law,  he  was  blameless."  It  rats- a  blind  and  erroneous 
zealf  in  what  he  supposed  was  the  cause  of  truth,  which 
led  him  to  such  acts  of  oppression.  He  thought  all  the 
time  he  was  "  doing  God  service,"  and  that  the  more 
he  shewed  his  hatred  to  Jesus  and  his  people,  God 
would  love  him  the  more.  His  own  words  are  striking 
— "  I  verily  thought  I  ought" — (it  was  a  false  sense  of 
duty) — "  to  do  many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth."  *  Besides,  the  principles  of  tole- 
ration prized  and  acted  on  in  our  happy  country 
were  not  known  in  his  time,  or  at  least  never  mani- 
fested. We  may  be  struck  indeed  at  the  amount 
and  bitterness  of  his  persecuting  zeal ;  we  read  that  he 
was  "breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter"  (with 
all  the  ferocity  of  a  ivild  beast,  as  the  word  means). 
This  may  at  first  sight  seem  strange,  if  what  we 
have  a  little  ago  said  be  true,  that  he  was  impressed 
with  Stephen's  holy  death.  But  alas  !  this  is  often 
one  out  of  many  ways  that  people  take  to  resist  con- 
viction, and  thereby  to  silence  the  voice  of  conscience. 
Just  as  the  sun,  shining  upon  a  stagnant  pool,  draws 

*  Acts  xxvi.  9. 
D 


50  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

forth  from  it  only  noxious  vapours,  so  the  holy  radi- 
ance on  the  countenance  of  the  martyr  seemed  but  to 
extract  stronger  feelings  of  hatred  from  the  proud  heart 
of  the  persecutor.  As  a  writer  has  well  said,  "The 
arrow  of  conviction,  when  it  fails  to  bring  the  sinner 
bleeding  to  Christ,  saying,  'What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved  % '  seldom  fails  to  exasperate  his  natural  enmity 
so  as  to  rouse  his  violent  opposition  to  Christ  and  his 
cause ;  insomuch  that,  when  at  any  time  we  see  a  man 
breathing  out  violence  and  threatenings  against  the 
ministers  or  people  of  God,  we  are  ready  to  think  that 
at  one  time  that  sinner  must  have  had  an  arrow 
sticking  fast  in  his  conscience,  and  that  he  is  un- 
easy and  restless  and  wretched  within,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  rankling  and  festering  sore."*  These 
dreadful  scenes  and  cruelties  in  which  Saul  now  en- 
gaged, were  like  scorpion-stings  afterwards  to  his  warm 
and  tender  heart.  They  pained  and  lacerated  him 
more  than  the  thongs  of  the  gaoler,  or  the  rough  irons 
that  bound  him — "  I  am  the  least  of  the  apostles,"  he 
says,  "that  am  not  meet  to  be  called  an  apostle,  be- 
cause I  persecuted  the  Church  of  God."  +  "  Beyond 
measure  I  persecuted  the  Church  and  wasted  it."  J 

Till  now  the  Gospel  had  been  principally,  if  not  alto- 
gether, preached  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem ;  but  these 
mournful  cruelties  were  beginning  to  scatter  the  dis- 
ciples among  the  neighbouring  provinces  of  Judea,  and 
even  among  the  countries  be}Tond.  Philip,  Stephen's 
old  companion  and  friend,  was  preaching  and  working 
miracles  in  Samaria,  and  Peter  and  John  shortly  after 
followed  him  there  on  the  same  errand.  Thus  the 
rage  of  the  persecutors  was  overruled  by  Divine  Pro- 

*  Buchanan  On  the  Holy  Spirit,  p.  291.  t  1  Cor.  xv.  9.  J  Gal.  i.  13. 


THE  CONVERT.  51 

vidence  for  the  spread  of  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
in  other  lands.  The  martyrdom  of  Stephen  was  like 
the  fall  of  the  forest  tree,  which,  as  it  comes  with  a 
crash  to  the  ground,  scatters  its  seeds  on  every  side. 

These  seeds,  however,  are  not  to  be  allowed  long  to 
rest  in  peace.  The  Christians  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
other  lands  are  to  be  hunted  out  by  this  fierce  zealot  as 
well  as  when  they  were  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
Where  is  he  to  begin  his  new  warfare  1  what  spot  does 
he  fix  upon  first,  in  order  to  spring  upon  his  unoffend- 
ing prey  1 

There  was  a  city  far  north  of  Palestine,  Damascus, 
the  capital  of  Syria,  where  many  of  the  poor  saints  had 
taken  refuge,  and  where  many  more,  by  their  preach- 
ing and  influence,  had  become  disciples  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Saul  could  of  himself  exercise  no  authority  at 
a  distance  ;  but  he  received  from  Theophilus,  the  high 
priest  in  Jerusalem,  letters  to  the  Jewish  synagogues 
in  Damascus,  in  order  that  he  might  seize  hold  of  all 
the  converts  he  could  find  there— "any  of  this  way" 
(as  he  in  words  of  bitter  contempt  expresses  it),  whether 
they  were  men  or  women,  and  bring  them  bound  to 
the  prisons  in  Jerusalem. 

You  have  heard  of  the  Crusaders  of  the  middle 
ages,  who  went  to  Palestine  to  fight  for  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  and  how  manfully  they  endured  every  kind 
of  hardship  and  suffering  in  what  they  thought  was  a 
holy  enterprise.  You  have  heard  of  the  poor  wretched 
Hindus  in  India  travelling  on  their  knees  for  hundreds 
of  miles,  under  a  burning  sun,  to  the  temples  of  their 
idol  deities,  thinking  thus  to  obtain  their  favour. 
Never,  we  believe,  did  Pilgrim,  or  Crusader,  or  Hindu, 
set  out  with  a  more  honest  conviction  that  he  was 


52  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

"  doing  God  service,"  than  did  Saul  of  Tarsus  at  this 
time  to  the  Syrian  capital. 

To  explain  this  "  authority  from  the  high  priest,"  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Roman  emperors, 
though  ever  jealous  about  giving  their  own  power  to 
others,  had  (since  the  reign  of  Julius  Caesar)  invested 
the  Jewish  high  priest,  as  head  of  the  Sanhedrim,  with 
full  authority  over  all  Israelites  who  might  be  living  in 
foreign  cities, — at  least  to  the  extent  of  "  excommu- 
nication, scourging,  and  imprisonment."  When  they 
wished  to  enforce  any  of  these,  "a  mandate"  was  sent 
by  the  hands  of  a  special  messenger  (as  was  the  case 
now  with  Saul)  to  the  synagogue  of  the  city  where  the 
Jews  resided,  whom  they  wished  to  punish.* 

What  a  journey  was  this  !  how  much  hung  upon  it ! 
and  yet  the  Bible  throws  no  light  upon  the  journey  itself 
— as  to  what  route  the  future  apostle  took,  or  who  were 
wTith  him.  There  were  several  ways  by  which  he  could 
reach  Damascus ;  but  as  it  is  more  than  likely  that 
by  this  time  the  Roman  roads  were  made  through 
Judea,t  we  may  suppose  that  Saul,  mounted  on  horse- 
back and  surrounded  with  his  companions,  proceeded 
out  of  the  north-western  gate  of  Jerusalem,  taking  the 
great  paved  road,  whose  remains  are  traced  at  the  pre- 
sent day,  similar  to  the  paved  highways  we  shall  after- 
wards come  to  speak  of  in  Italy,  and  other  countries.:}; 

It  has  been  attempted  to  give  a  precise  date  to  this 
memorable  journey — about  November  a.  d.  37,  a  few 
months  after  Stephen's  martyrdom.     It  may  help  to 

*  Lew  in. 

t  For  a  description  of  the  different  routes  from  Jerusalem  to  Damascus, 
see  Conybeare  and  Howson.  We  have  adopted  the  one  selected  by  them 
as  most  probable. 

t  Biblical  Researches,  vol.  iii.  p.  77. 


THE  CONVERT.  53 

assist  our  impression  of  the  incidents  connected  with 
it,  to  assume  the  date  to  be  the  correct  one.     The 
usual   time  which   modern  companies   take  to  travel 
between  Jerusalem  and  Damascus  is  a  week — the  dis- 
tance being  136  miles.     On  the  supposition  that  Saul 
and  his  companions  were  a  mounted  band,  they  would 
do  it  sooner ;  but  it  would  seem,  from  his  own  descrip- 
tion, that  the  party  in  this  respect  very  nearly  resem- 
bled caravans  in  the  present  day,  some  being  mounted, 
and  some  on  foot.*     Ascending  the  ridge,  on  the  left 
of  which  are  the  tombs  of  the  Judges,  they  would  wend 
their  way  across  a  hill  which  was  to  become  more  me- 
morable, some  years  later,  as  that  where  the  Roman 
standards  were  first  planted  by  Titus  when  he  came 
against  Jerusalem.     The  temple  has  now  sunk  from 
the  view  of  the  travellers,  and  the  road  lies,  with  many 
devious  windings,  through  a  mountainous  district,  till 
they  come  to  Eamah  of  Benjamin.    Two  cities  of  a 
similar  name  open  upon  them  right  and  left.    The  for- 
mer, Gibeah  of  Saul,  could  not  be  without  interest  to 
the  young  Pharisee,  who  proudly  bore   the  name  of 
Israel's  first  king.    Here  was  the  monarch's  birthplace. 
They  could  follow  in  thought  his  brave  son  in  his  mid- 
night exploit,  with  his  armour-bearer,  when  he  left  his 
father's  tent  under  the  pomegranate  tree  in  Gibeah, 
and  by  the  morning  the  Philistines  were  fleeing  in  dis- 
order over  the  plain.      The  city,  towards  the  right, 
had  recollections  equally  interesting.     It  was  over  the 
walls  of  Gibeon  that,  at  the  command  of  Joshua,  the 
sun  stood  still  in  the  heavens.    Here,  under  David  and 
Solomon,  the  tabernacle  had  for  many  years  been  set 
up,  and  the  latter  monarch,  on  ascending  the  throne, 

*  Lewin. 


54  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

offered  up  his  thousand  burnt-offerings.  They  hasten 
onwards  through  a  rocky  country,  occasionally  relieved 
by  gentle  slopes  or  artificial  terraces,  where  the  melon 
and  cucumber  are  found  cultivated  along  with  patches 
of  grain.  The  eye  of  the  inquisitor  is  doubtless  intent 
on  the  great  object  of  his  journey ;  he  may  have 
little  inclination  to  gaze  on  the  various  spots  of  renown 
which  are  crossing  his  path ;  but  surely  he  could  not 
pass  Bethel  without  a  solemn  pause  and  many  hallowed 
remembrances.  Was*  this  the  spot  he  had  so  often 
read  of  in  his  Tarsus  home,  where  father  Jacob  had 
taken  the  stones  of  the  place  for  his  pillow,  and  saw 
the  ladder  stretching  down  from  heaven  to  earth — the 
angels  of  God  travelling  up  and  down  upon  it  ?  The 
impressive  typical  meaning  of  that  vision  was  to  young 
Saul  yet  sealed.  He  had  yet  to  know  the  glory  of 
that  mediatorial  work  which  connected  earth  with  hea- 
ven— the  sinner  with  God.  Who  can  tell  but  these 
same  angels  that  hovered  over  the  weary  patriarch 
1700  years  before,  had  now  "charge  given  them  to 
encamp "  around  another  erring  fugitive  !  If  there 
be  "joy  in  heaven  among  the  angels  of  God  over  every 
sinner  that  repenteth,"  what  must  that  joy  be  when 
they  can  bear  tidings  to  the  throne  that  there  is  one 
weeping  at  the  cross  like  Saul  of  Tarsus ! 

But  they  pursue  their  way.  Shiloh  was  the  last 
place  of  note  they  passed  before  entering  the  hills  of 
Samaria.  Here  they  could  not  fail  to  think  of  the 
touching  story  of  old  Eli  and  the  youthful  Samuel ; 
but  there  was  nothing  in  the  town  itself  to  attract  at- 
tention. Ever  since  the  "  Ark  of  God  "  had  been  taken 
from  it  by  the  Philistines,  Shiloh  had  sunk  into  insig- 
nificance.    Perhaps,  from  some  height  here,  the  young 


THE  CONVERT.  55 

Benjamite  may  have  got  a  glimpse  of  the  blue  moun- 
tains bounding  the  horizon  on  the  north ;  they  are  the 
heights  of  Gilboa.  On  yonder  mountain  side,  the 
stately  king,  whose  birthplace  he  had  recently  passed, 
fell,  when  "  the  archers  hit  him,  and  he  was  sore 
wounded  of  the  archers."  He  might  see,  or  fancy  he 
saw,  the  direction  by  which  the  messenger  hurried 
along  to  Ziklag  with  the  crown  and  bracelet  of  the  fal- 
len monarch,  carrying  the  heavy  tidings  to  David  that 
"the  beauty  of  Israel  had  been  slain  upon  the  high 


After  crossing  the  hills  of  Ephraim,  we  may  listen 
in  thought  to  their  horses'  hoofs  sounding  along  the 
winding  valley  between  Ebal  and  Gerizim,  close  to 
Sychar.  They  may  have  even  possibly  paused  to  re- 
fresh themselves  at  the  very  fountain — the  well  of 
Jacob — where  a  Samaritan  woman  had  the  water  of  life 
first  pointed  out  to  her. 

If  we  have  said  in  a  former  chapter  that  the  glories 
of  Lebanon  and  Carmel  must  have  been  much  the 
same  in  the  days  of  Saul  as  now,  we  may  say  the  same 
of  this  lovely  valley  •  for  while  the  features  of  nature 
in  her  bold  mountains  and  valleys  never  can  be 
changed,  the  old  Shechem  of  Scripture  still  survives 
when  many  other  towns  and  villages  of  Palestine  have 
been  swept  away.  As  Saul  rode  through  its  groves 
and  orchards,  scenes  which  have  met  the  eye  of  recent 
travellers  were  those  most  likely  to  meet  his  own.  "  A 
beautiful  stream  would  be  running  through  the  valley, 
and  a  shepherd  might  be  seen  seated  on  its  bank,  play- 
ing a  reed-pipe,  with  his  flock  feeding  quietly  around 
him."  "  Along  the  valley  he  might  behold  a  company 
of  Ishmaelites  coming  from  Gilead,  as  in  the  days  of 


-r)C>  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

Reuben  and  Judah,  with  their  camels  '  bearing  spicery, 
and  balm,  and  myrrh/  who  would  gladly  have  pur- 
chased another  Joseph  of  his  brethren,  and  conveyed 
him  as  a  slave  to  some  Potiphar  in  Egypt.  Upon  the 
hills  around,  flocks  and  herds  might  be  feeding  as  of 
old  ;  nor,  in  the  simple  garb  of  the  shepherds  of  Sama- 
ria, would  there  be  anything  to  contradict  the  notions 
he  might  entertain  of  the  appearance  formerly  exhi- 
bited by  the  sons  of  Jacob."  * 

Samaria  is  soon  passed,  and  Galilee  is  entered.  They 
have  reached  a  lofty  ridge  from  which  they  look  down 
into  the  deep  basin  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias — that  spot 
which  had  become  sacred  with  the  presence  and  deeds 
of  a  Greater  than  the  greatest  of  apostles.  It  was 
there  that  a  mighty  Voice  had  stilled  a  furious  tem- 
pest, and  rescued  a  sinking  disciple ;  the  same  Voice 
and  the  same  Hand  was  ere  long,  by  a  mightier  miracle, 
to  rescue  him  who  now  rode  unconcerned  along  its  white 
pebbly  beech  !  Crossing  to  its  other  side,  they  come 
in  view  of  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida.  Boats  might 
be  flitting,  as  they  passed,  to  and  fro  in  the  calm  sur- 
face of  the  lake,  in  which  probably  Peter,  and  James, 
and  Andrew,  and  John,  once  sat  and  toiled,  and  in 
which  Jesus  had  sat  along  with  them. 

After  the  hills  which  rose  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
lake  have  been  climbed,  the  view  becomes  quite  altered ; 
the  land  of  mountains  and  valleys  is  about  to  be  left 
behind,  and  one  vast  plain,  extending  for  miles  on 
miles,  stretches  before  them.  Towards  the  extreme 
north,  the  brow  of  Hermon,  white  with  snow  as  if 
hoary  with  age,  towered  far  up  in  the  blue  sky.  It 
formed  the  highest  point  in  the  range  of  Mount  Leba- 

*  Stephen's  Travels,  and  Clarke's  Travels,  quoted  by  Wylie. 


THE  CONVERT.  57 

noil — the  giant  boundary-line  of  the  north  of  Palestine, 
and  which  now  lay  right  between  the  persecutor  and 
his  native  Cilicia.  The  journey  presently  is  over  a 
flat  and  even  country,  but  wasted,  dry,  and  sterile.  A 
hot  burning  sun  pours  its  rays  down  upon  their  heads, 
and  many  a  league  has  to  be  trodden  before  their  eyes 
are  gladdened  with  cooling  streams  or  welcome  shade. 
At  last,  in  the  far  distance,  a  dotted  streak  of  sparkling- 
white  greets  their  vision,  and  circling  lines,  glancing  in 
the  sun,  seem  to  mark  the  presence  of  a  flowing  river. 
It  is  their  longed-for  city — the  towers  and  pinnacles  of 
great  Damascus. 

"  The  mid-day  sun,  with  fiercest  glare, 
Broods  o'er  the  hazy  twinkling  air, 

Along  the  level  sand. 
The  palm-tree's  shade  unwavering  lies, 
Just  as  thy  towers,  Damascus,  rise 

To  greet  yon  wearied  hand."  * 

Damascus,  the  "  head  "  or  capital  of  Syria,  is  one  of 
the  oldest  towns  in  the  world.  When  the  patriarch 
Abraham  lived,  Damascus  was  built.  His  trusty  and 
faithful  servant  was  "  Eliezer  of  Damascus."  In  the 
reign  of  David  and  Solomon,  it  carried  on  an  extensive 
trade  with  neighbouring  and  distant  cities.  The  pro- 
phet Ezekiel  speaks  particularly  of  its  commerce  with 
Tyre  —  "  its  wares,  emeralds,  purple  and  broidered 
work,  the  wine  of  Helbon,  and  white  wool."  While 
Nineveh  can  only  be  dug  out  of  its  grave,  and  the 
ruins  of  Babylon  can  scarcely  be  found,  Damascus 
remains  a  great  and  beautiful  city  to  this  day,  the 
wonder  of  all  travellers,  with  its  busy  throng  of  120,000 
inhabitants,  its  same  bright  white  buildings,  its  long 
streets,  its  busy  bazaars,  its  sparkling  fountains,   its 

*  Christian  Year. 


58  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

lovely  palm-trees  and  delicious  fruits.*  It  is  called  by 
eastern  writers,  "a  pearl  surrounded  by  emeralds." 
Abana  and  Pharpar,  the  rivers  which  Naaman  of  old 
liked  "  better  than  all  the  waters  of  Israel,"  and  which 
(united)  the  ancient  geographers  knew  by  the  name  of 
"the  Golden  Stream," t  still  come  tumbling  down  from 
the  heights  of  Lebanon,  and  wind  in  graceful  curves 
through  the  long  flat  plains,  carrying  beauty  and  fresh- 
ness in  their  course,  more  especially  around  the  rich 
gardens  and  forests  of  olive-trees  in  which  the  city  it- 
self is  embosomed. 

It  is  said  of  an  Arabian  prince,  that  when  he  was  on 
his  way  to  Damascus,  and  first  beheld  it,  he  stopped 
his  horse  and  refused  to  go  any  further,  erecting  on 
the  spot  where  its  towers  first  burst  upon  his  view,  a 
monument  with  the  following  inscription  : — "  I  expect 
to  enter  one  Paradise,  but  if  I  enter  this  city,  I  shall 
be  so  ravished  with  its  beauties  as  to  lose  sight  of  the 
Paradise  which  I  hope  to  enter." 

"  We  were  looking  down,"  says  a  recent  traveller, 
"from  an  elevation  of  1000  feet,  upon  a  vast  plain 
bordered  in  the  distance  by  blue  mountains,  and  occu- 
pied by  a  rich  luxuriant  forest  of  the  walnut,  the  fig, 
the  pomegranate,  the  plum,  the  apricot,  the  citron,  the 
locust,  the  pear,  and  the  apple,  forming  a  waving  grove 
of  more  than  fifty  miles  in  circuit.  .  .  .  Then  conceive 
our  sensations  to  see,  grandly  rising  in  the  distance,  .  .  . 
the  swelling  leaden  domes,  the  gilded  crescents,  and 
the  marble  minarets  of  Damascus,  while  in  the  centre 
of  all,  winding  toward  the  city,  ran  the  main  stream  of 
the  river  Barrada.";}; 

*  Among  these  is  the  well-known  Damson,  or  Damascene  plum. 
f  Bible  Cyclopaedia.  %  Addison. 


THE  CONVERT,  59 

Truly  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  Naaman  thinking 
more  of  his  own  native  rivers,  the  Scripture  "  streams 
from  Lebanon,"  than  all  the  waters  of  Syria ;  for  the 
former,  with  their  "golden  streams,"  and  never-failing 
ones,  too  (as  Amana  or  Abana  literally  means),  make 
Damascus,  though  on  the  borders  of  a  desert,  one  of 
the  loveliest  spots  on  earth ;  while  the  rivers  of  Judea 
(the  Jordan  excepted),  are  small  and  scanty,  and  their 
narrow  rocky  channels  generally  dry  in  the  summer.* 

It  "may  be  further  interesting  to  mention,  that  Chris- 
tian missionaries  are  at  this  day  labouring  among 
the  Jewish  population  of  Damascus,  which  recently 
amounted  to  the  number  of  5000. 

But  to  return.  We  may  imagine  the  band  of  horse- 
men, with  the  fiery  Cilician  at  their  head,  nearing  the 
walls  of  this  "  eye  of  the  east."  The  sun  of  the  last 
day  of  their  journey  is  brightly  shining  upon  them. 
They  are  hopeful  that  they  will,  ere  long,  either  be 
screened  from  the  sultry  heat  in  the  house  of  one  of 
their  brethren,  or  at  all  events  attain  the  cooling  shade 
of  one  of  the  many  avenues  leading  to  the  city.  Soon 
they  are  riding  along  among  palm,  orange,  and  citron 
groves,  getting,  through  some  occasional  openings,  a 
glimpse  of  Mount  Hermon.  Natural  and  artificial 
streams  are  murmuring  at  their  feet.  Birds  with  their 
lovely  plumage  are  hiding  themselves  among  the 
branches.  Creeping  flowers  in  endless  variety  and 
beauty,  and  especially  among  these  the  Damascus  (or 
Damask)  rose,  are  diffusing  a  grateful  perfume  all 
around.  In  the  distance,  they  may  see  mules  and 
camels  approaching  the  city  from  other  quarters,  laden 
with  goods  and  merchandise,  just  as  at  this  day  cara- 

*  Bible  Cyclopaedia. 


GO  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

vans  are  still  observed  carrying  Indian  manufactures 
in  great  quantities  from  Bagdad,  or  from  Mecca  and 
Aleppo.  The  words  of  a  modern  writer*  may,  with 
little  alteration,  have  described  what  Saul  and  his  fol- 
lowers beheld — "  The  rich  turbans  and  flowing  robes 
of  respectable  merchants,  are  finely  contrasted  with  the 
rude  sheep-skin  covering  of  the  mountaineer,  and  the 
dark  abba  of  the  wandering  Arab." 

They  are  riding  along  with  no  thought  but  that 
their  errand  will  soon  be  done.  They  are  thinking  of 
the  number  of  their  victims,  and  how  they  will  best 
be  able  to  return  with  them  through  these  burning 
plains — 

"  The  leader  of  that  martial  crew 
Seems  bent  some  mighty  deed  to  do, 

So  steadily  he  speeds  ; 
With  lips  firm  closed  and  fixed  eye, 
Like  warrior  when  the  fight  is  nigh, 
So  steadily  he  speeds." 

And  now  they  have  reached  a  spot  half  a  mile  from 
Damascus,  where,  at  the  present  day,  there  is  a  village 
called  El-Kochaba  (caucabe),  or  "  the  star"  (brightness), 
from  the  marvellous  occurrence  we  are  now  to  relate. t 

But  what  is  this !  In  a  moment  they  are  stopped  on  the 
way.  One  of  them  reels  from  his  horse  and  foils  sense- 
less to  the  ground.  It  is  mid-day — the  sun  is  right 
above  their  heads  in  the  cloudless  sky ;  but  a  light 
brighter  than  even  a  bright  Eastern  sun  dazzles  their 
eyes.  It  is  a  "great  light,"  and  it  shines  "  suddenly" 
upon  them.  They  are  all  struck  for  the  moment 
speechless  ! 

The  others  at  least  cannot  tell  why  they  should 
tremble  so,  for  they  neither  "  hear  any  voice  nor  see 
any  vision."     It  was  different  with  their  chief.     The 

*  See  Biblical  Keepsake.  t  Bible  Cyclopazdia 


THE  CONVERT.  61 

Jew  of  Tarsus  is  lying  speechless  on  the  earth  ;  but  in 
his  ear  there  sound  some  strange  and  thrilling  words. 
He  lifts  up  his  eye  towards  the  awful  brightness.     It  is 
nothing  else  than  the  emblem  of  God's  presence — the 
"shekinah"  or  "glory,"  which  he  had  often  heard  of  as 
dwelling  in  the  tabernacle  of  old,  and  in  the  Holy  of 
holies  in  the  temple.     But  it  is  no   mere   light — no 
mere  vision  which  he  sees.     There  is  a  glorious  Person 
also.     It  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth   whom   he   persecuted. 
He  leaves  us  no  doubt,  in  other  places  where  he  speaks 
of  this  great  event  in  his  history,  that  it  was  actually 
Jesus  in  his  glorified  person  he  beheld,  — "  Have  I  not 
seen  the  Lord?" — and,  "Last  of  all  he  was  seen  of  me 
also."     And  Ananias  we  shall  presently  find  saying  to 
him,  "  The  Lord,  even  Jesus,  who  appeared  to  thee  in 
the  way  as  thou  earnest."     Saul  knows  Him  at  once  ! 
Jesus  addresses  him  in  the  Hebrew  tongue — the  same 
language  in  which  He  had  conversed  with  his  twelve 
disciples.     He  names  him  !  and  in  mingled  tenderness 
and  rebuke  thus  speaks,  "  Saul !  Saul !  why  persecutest 
thou  me?"  as  if  He  said,  "It  is  not  my  poor  innocent 
people  you  are  cruel  to,  but  what  you  do  to  them  I  feel 
as  if  you  were  doing  to  me, — in  hurting  them  you  are 
hurting  me."     What  a  gracious,  tender  word  of  this 
gracious  Saviour !     What  a  laying  bare  of  his  loving 
heart !     What  even  was  Stephen's  dying  love  to  this  1 
If  we  may  suppose  Saul  venturing  to  reply,  and  saying, 
"  When   persecuted  I  thee?     I  took   no   part  in  the 
awful  scenes  of  Gethsemane  and  Calvary !     I  formed 
not  one  of  the  assassin  band.     I  gave  thee  no  traitor's 
kiss.     I  weaved  for  thee  no  crown  of  twisted  thorns. 
I  plunged  no  rough  iron  into  thy  side.     My  tongue 
was  not  raised  to  add  to  thy  last  agonies,  mockery  and 


62  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

insult."  The  reply  was  ready.  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it 
unto  me."*  The  awe-struck  horseman,  scarce  know- 
ing what  he  says,  replies,  °  Who  art  thou,  Lord  1 " 
The  answer  comes  from  the  same  glorified  lips,  "  I  am 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  thou  persecutest."  +  "I  am 
that  very  Jesus  whom  thou  thoughtest  to  be  a  despised 
and  crucified  malefactor  ;  but  I  am  the  Lord  of  glory — 
1 1  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth' — the  name  thou  wert  in  the 
habit  of  using  in  mockery,  calling  me  and  my  people  the 
Nazarenes."  The  whole  current  of  Saul's  thoughts  must 
have  been  in  a  moment  changed.  What !  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth,  whom  he  had  imagined  was  a  mere  pretender  and 
impostor — Jesus,  whom  he  really  supposed  to  have 
been  crucified  as  a  wicked  person,  dying  between 
thieves,  and  laid  dead  in  the  grave  !  Could  it  be  that 
all  this  while  he  had  been  wrong  in  thinking  him  a  de- 
ceiver— that  he  had  been  all  this  while  guiltily  "  fighting 
against  God  V  Yes — he  looks  up  to  that  awful  bright- 
ness, and  a  glance  there  tells  him  that  he  iras  wrong — 
that  that  glorious  Being  is  "that  same  Jesus" — risen, 
exalted,  glorified  !  It  was  a  silent  sermon  (but  a  far 
more  solemn  and  powerful  one  than  Peter  preached  to 
the  thousands  at  Pentecost)  on  the  text,  "Him  hath 
God  exalted  to  be  a  prince  and  a  Saviour."  It  wras  the 
wdiole  Gospel  Christ  the  Son  of  God  is  shining  above  his 
head  in  glory  brighter  than  the  brightness  of  the  sun  ! 
No  wonder  the  awe-struck  persecutor  lies  powerless 
on  the  ground,  "  trembling  and  astonished."  "  What !" 
we  may  suppose  him  saying  to  himself,  "  Jesus  ! 
to  whom  all  power  is  committed.  May  he  not  have 
come  to  seal  my  blaspheming  lips  for   ever?     There 

*  Blunt.  t  Acts  xxii.  8. 


THE  CONVERT.  63 

surely  can  be  no  hope  for  me,  I  have  been  rushing 
with  madness  against  the  thick  bosses  of  his  buckler. 
I  have  been  hunting  down  the  innocent  sheep  of  this 
gracious  Shepherd,  and  in  injuring  them  I  have  been 
injuring  Him.  I  can  surely  listen  for  nothing  from  his 
lips  but  words  of  sternest  rebuke  and  vengeance  ! "  He 
listens;  but  there  is  no  terror  or  upbraiding  in  the 
voice.  Jesus  proceeds  to  soothe  with  words  and  tones 
of  kindness  his  agitated  spirit. 

"  It  is  hard,"  he  says,  "  for  thee  to  kick  against  the 
pricks."  Our  Lord,  when  he  was  on  earth,  often  em- 
ployed terms  taken  from  common  customs  to  enforce 
his  sayings.  He  does  so  here  in  speaking  from  heaven. 
It  was  the  habit  in  Judea  for  the  man  who  was  at  the 
side  of  oxen,  to  have  a  goad  or  pointed  steel  to  drive 
them  with.  Often  these  animals  would  refuse  to  move  ; 
they  would  kick  and  grow  restive  when  their  master 
was  goading  them  on.  When  they  did  so,  lie  only 
applied  the  pointed  steel  more  severely,  and  they  found 
it  was  vain  to  resist.  Jesus  says  the  same  to  Saul, — 
"  It  is  hard  for  thee  "  There  was  fresh  discovery  here, 
too,  of  love.  He  does  not  say,  "It  is  hard  for  me;" 
but,  "  It  is  hard  for  thee ;"  as  if  he  had  said,  "  Poor  man, 
thou  art  wronging  thyself,  Saul.  It  is  of  no  use  thy 
attempting  to  resist  my  grace  ;  I  have  loug  had  great 
things  in  store  for  thee.  Thou  need'st  try  no  longer  to  be 
my  enemy  ;  I  have  marked  thee  out  for* a  great  apostle. 
It  is  hard  for  thee  to  go  any  longer  against  my  bidding. 
I  have  struck  thee  down  a  persecutor ;  I  will  raise 
thee  up  '  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me.' "  It  was  even  so. 
He  can  no  louger  "  fight  against  God."  He  sees — he 
trembles — he  believes — he  rejoices!  That  look  of 
mingled  reproof  and  love   which  smote  Peter  to  the 


64  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

heart,  melted  a  harder  still.  As  he  beholds  the 
vision  and  listens  to  the  words  of  mercy,  he  can  say, 
"  He  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me"  As  Benjamin, 
the  youngest  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob,  was  at  last 
brought  to  see  Joseph  in  Egypt,  so  Saul,  of  Benjamin, 
the  youngest  of  the  twelve  aposles,  "  as  one  born  out  of 
due  time,"  has  the  true  Joseph  at  last  revealed  to  him. 
He  can  say,  "  This  is  our  brother,  he  talks  kindly  to 
us."  The  same  adorable  Lord  and  Saviour  further  pro- 
ceeds to  tell  him,  ere  he  vanishes  from  his  sight,  that 
Pie  is  to  send  him  forth  to  be  His  minister  "to  the  Gen- 
tiles, to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  dark- 
ness unto  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God."  He  had  just  pleaded  with  him  in  tenderness 
and  love,  now  He  speaks  to  him  with  the  authority  of 
his  risen  and  glorified  Master — the  Sovereign  in  whose 
ranks  he  was  now  to  fight — "  Arise,  and  go  into  the 
city."  There  he  was  to  be  told  what  in  future  he 
was  "  to  be,  to  do,  and  to  suffer." 

After  a  few  brief  moments  of  terror,  the  brightness 
is  past — the  voice  is  hushed.  He  who  fell  a  bigoted 
Pharisee,  is  now  an  humble  and  humbled  follower  of 
Jesus.  A  glorious  light  is  shining  in  his  soul ;  but  the 
dazzling  brightness  had  been  too  much  for  his  bodily 
eyes.  He  rises  stone-blind  !  What  a  different  entrance 
through  the  Damascus  gate  !  *  The  proud  horseman  is 
led  by  the  hand  as  a  little  child,  along  the  street 
called  "  Straight,"  t  to  the  house  of  one  named  Judas. 

*  "  On  the  25th  day  of  January,  anuually,  the  Christiansen  Damascus 
walk  in  procession  to  the  scene  of  the  conversion,  and  read  the  history  of 
it  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  under  the  protection  of  a  guard  furnished 
by  the  Paclia."— Biblical  Keepsake. 

t  To  the  indifferent  crowd  that  thronged  the  street,  there  would  be  little 
worthy  of  attention  in  a  blind  Jew  being  conducted  along.  Yet  was  there 
more  true  interest,  more  real  greatness,  and  more  momentous  results  con- 


THE  CONVERT.  65 

Interesting  and  strange  spectacle  !  "  Whosoever,"  says 
Christ,  "  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  lit- 
tle child,  shall  in  no  wise  enter  therein."  Snch  a  little 
child  had  the  bold  and  proud  Israelite  of  Tarsus  be- 
come—  "born  again"  by  "the  Word  of  God  which 
liveth  and  abideth  for  ever."  He  is  heard  engaged  in 
prayer — prayer,  the  "cry  of  the  new  creature" — that 
blessed  means  by  which  he  and  all  who  have  trodden 
his  steps,  "out  of  weakness  have  been  made  strong, 
waxed  valiant  in  fight,  and  turned  to  flight  the  armies 
of  the  aliens."* 

We  have  been  already  led  more  than  once  to 
mark  points  of  resemblance  or  comparison  between 
the  early  history  of  Luther  and  that  of  Saul.  We 
cannot  resist  adverting,  in  passing,  to  a  remarkable 
similarity  in  this  the  great  turning  point  of  their  two 
lives.  Luther,  when  in  the  prime  of  youthful  man- 
hood, was  returning  one  day  from  his  father's  house 
at  Mansfield,  to  resume  his  labours  at  the  university  ot 
Erfurth.  All  at  once  a  thunder-storm  overtook  him. 
The  lightning  flashed  fearfully  and  vividly  around 
him,  and  one  bolt  fell  and  burst  at  his  side.  That 
road  was  to  him  a  Damascus  highway!  His  troubled 
conscience  was"  roused   from  its  depths.      He  threw 

aected  with  this  event  than  with  the  most  gorgeous  of  Eistern  processions 
or  the  grandest  of  Roman  triumphs.  One  cannot  help  thinking,  in  con- 
trast with  it,  of  another  very  different  cavalcade  which  takes  place  in 
Damascus  year  after  year  in  honour  of  another  "Apostle,"  whose  influence 
on  the  human  race  (though  an  influence  of  falsehood  and  delusion)  is  only 
second  to  that  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  ' '  Every  year  the  standard  of  the  false 
prophet  (Mahomet)  is  displayed.  It  is  of  green  silk,  with  passages  from 
the  Koran  embroidered  in  gold,  and  the  camel  which  bears  it  is  ever  after 
exempted  from  labour.  The  Koran  itself  is  also  carried  by  the  pilgrims, 
bound  in  silk,  and  borne  by  a  camel  richly  caparisoned,  around  which 
armed  Mussulmcn  are  stationed,  playing  on  all  kinds  of  instruments." 
*  Heb.  ad.  34. 

E 


GG  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

himself,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  on  his  knees.  Death, 
judgment,  and  eternity,  were  before  him ;  and  with  all 
the  terrible  thoughts  of  how  unprepared  he  would  be 
to  meet  his  Judge,  he  vowed  that  if  it  pleased  God  to 
rescue  him  from  these  "  terrors  of  death,"  he  would 
leave  the  world,  and  give  himself  entirely  to  reli- 
gion. From  that  hour  he  was  an  altered  man.  The 
age  of  miracles  and  special  visions  had  now  indeed 
gone  by.  No  "  Lord  Jesus  "  did  appear  to  him  visibly 
and  personally  "by  the  way,"  as  he  had  done  to  his 
other  servant ;  but  He  whose  "  voice  is  the  thunder  " 
had  spoken  to  him  in  language  he  could  never  forget. 
Humbled  and  trembling,  he  puts  the  very  same  ques- 
tion which  the  awe-struck  persecutor  put  fifteen  cen- 
turies before — "  Lord,  what  wouldest  thou  have  me  to 
do  ?"  A  great  work  truly  God  had  in  reserve  for  both 
these  "  sons  of  thunder."  Those  two  quiet  spots  in 
Asia  and  Europe — the  one  on  the  way  to  Damascus, 
the  other  on  the  road  to  Erfurth,  must  be  memorable 
to  all  time.*  Meanwhile,  we  shall  leave  the  elder 
apostle  in  the  lonely  chamber  of  the  "Straight  street" 
of  Damascus.  The  owner  of  the  house,  and  perhaps 
some  of  his  companions,  beheld  with  amazement  the 
blinded  traveller  on  his  knees,  calling  again  and 
ao'ain  in  some  such  words  as  these,  he  came  afterwards 
to  write,  "  Jesus  !  Jesus  !  Thou  Son  of  God,  whose  grace 
I  have  so  long  despised !  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Thou  didst  come  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  the  chief  !" 

*  Rubianus,  one  of  Luther's  friends  at  the  University  of  Erfurth,  wrote 
to  him  at  a  later  period, — "Divine  Providence  looked  to  what  thou  wast 
one  day  to  become,  when,  on  thy  return  from  the  house  of  thy  parents,  fire 
from  heaven  made  thee,  like  another  Paul,  fall  to  the  ground,  near  the  city 
of  Erfartb,  and  snatching  thee  from  our  society,  drove  thee  to  enter  the  sect 
of  Augustine."— D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation. 


CHAPTEE  V. 


%\t  fttpbt. 


"  And  can  I  be  the  very  same, 
Who  lately  durst  blaspheme  Thy  name, 

And  on  Thy  Gospel  tread  ! 
Surely  each  one  who  hears  my  cas  , 
Will  praise  Thee,  and  confess  Thy  grace 
Invincible  indeed ! " 

John  Newton. 

"  Truly  these  were  three  memorable  days  in  the  life  of  Paul;  and, 
if  we  except  the  three  days  spent  in  the  new  tomb  in  Joseph's  gar- 
den, the  most  wonderful  in  the  history  of  the  Church  and  the  world." 


70  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

is  still  pointed  out  to  the  curious  stranger,  by  the 
monks  of  Damascus,  the  "House  of  Ananias;"  and 
farther  on  the  left,  forming  a  grotto  or  cellar  below  the 
level  of  the  street,  is  the  reputed  house  of  Judas.'" 
When  Saul  reached  the  dwelling  which  had  been  pro- 
vided for  him,  he  was  in  a  state  of  great  helplessness. 
He  could  take  no  meat.  He  ate  nothing  and  drank 
nothing,  and  for  three  days  groped  in  darkness.  We 
cannot  think  he  had  any  friends  to  be  kind  to  him. 
The  Christians  would  be  afraid  to.  go  near  him,  for 
they  had  heard  of  his  cruelties,  and  perhaps-  of  the 
object  of  his  present  journey.  "Said  of  Tarsus  is  on 
his  way  hither  /" — we  may  well  believe  what  terror  and 
agony  such  an  announcement  would  produce  in  many 
a  bosom  and  home  among  the  refugee  converts  at 
Damascus.  They  would  suspect  the  vision  and  the 
blindness  were  all  a  pretence,  and  that,  if  they  went  to 
his  lodging,  his  companions  might  be  concealed  some- 
where near,  ready  to  seize  them  and  put  them  in 
chains.  The  Jews,  on  the  other  hand,  would  shun  and 
hate,  with  a  bitter  hatred,  the  man  who  was  now 
on  his  knees  praying  to  Jesus,  and  calling  him  by  the 
title  of  God ! 

How  many  strange  thoughts  must  have  been  pass- 
ing, meanwhile,  in  Saul's  own  bosom !  He  would 
revert,  perhaps,  to  his  Tarsus  home.  What  would  his 
loved  father,  and  sister,  and  friends  think  of  such  a 
change  %  and  Gamaliel !  how  could  he  meet  him  again 
as  a  Christian?  and,  worse  than  all,  he  would  think  of 
his  former  cruelties  to  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem. 
He  would  remember,  with  bitter  tears,  the  heavenly 
look  of  the  martyr  Stephen — his  unearthly  forgiveness, 

*  Rae  Wilson's  Travels. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  71 

his  holy  resignation,  his  triumphant  death — and  how 
he  had  helped  in  that  scene  of  blood!  But  one 
thought,  rising  above  all  these  sore  reflections,  would 
comfort  his  spirit.  When  no  earthly  voice  was  near  to 
cheer  him,  he  would  remember  those  tender  tones  that 
were  still  ringing  in  his  ear,  "Saul!  Saul!"  and  the 
last  glorious  sight  his  eyes  had  seen  ere  they  were 
smitten  with  blindness.  God  had  seemed  purposely  to 
exclude  the  outer  world,  that  the  eye  of  His  dear  ser- 
vant might  be  taken  away  from  all  earthly  things, 
and  fixed  on  his  own  heart,  and  on  his  adorable  Re- 
deemer. "Behold!  he  prayeth!"  What!  had  he 
never  prayed  before  1  Were  not  the  Pharisees  famed 
for  their  many  and  their  long  prayers  1  Can  we  sup- 
pose the  young  disciple  of  Gamaliel,  who,  "  after  the 
straitest  manner  of  his  religion,  lived  a  Pharisee,"  was 
a  stranger  to  prayer  1  No,  not  to  prayer  in  its  outward 
form.  He  had  repeated  words  often  before;  but  he 
had  never  really,  till  now,  uttered  the  cry  of  faith. 
The  Jews  of  his  own  sect  might  often  point  to  him  as 
a  man  of  prayer;  but  God,  the  "searcher  of  hearts," 
says  of  him  for  the  first  time,  when  he  sees  him  in  that 
vaulted  chamber,  "Behold!  he  prayeth!" 

While  wrapt  in  such  mingled  thoughts  as  we  have 
supposed,  a  humble  Christian  stranger  knocked  at  his 
chamber  door.  Saul  was  prepared  for  his  visit ;  for 
God  had  told  him  by  a  dream  or  vision  that  one  of  the 
name  of  Ananias  would  come  and  lay  his  hands  on 
him,  and  restore  his  sight.  Who  Ananias  was,  we  are 
not  specially  informed.  Probably  he  was  one  of  the 
scattered  sheep  whom  Saul,  like  a  ravening  wolf,  had 
set  out  from  Jerusalem  to  destroy.  He  had  known, 
indeed,  the  object  of  the  persecutor's  visit  to  Damascus. 


72  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Very  probably  "the  men"  who  had  come  along  with 
Saul,  and  whom  we  lose  sight  of  after  he  was  struck  to 
the  earth,  had  not  been  aware  of  the  wondrous  change 
that  had  taken  place  on  their  leader,  and  were  making 
publicly  known  in  the  city  the  cruel  errand  they  had 
come  to  discharge.  But  God  appeared  by  a  vision  to 
Ananias,  and  instructed  him  to  go  and  lay  his  hands 
on  the  blinded  Pharisee.  "  And  there  was  a  certain 
disciple  at  Damascus,  named  Ananias;  and  to  him 
said  the  Lord  in  a  vision,  Ananias.  And  he  said, 
Behold,  I  am  here,  Lord.  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
him,  Arise,  and  go  into  the  street  which  is  called 
Straight,  and  inquire  in  the  house  of  Judas  for  one 
called  Saul,  of  Tarsus  :  for,  behold,  he  prayeth,  and 
hath  seen  in  a  vision  a  man  named  Ananias  com- 
ing in,  and  putting  his  hand  on  him,  that  he  might 
receive  his  sight."  *  We  can  hardly  wonder  at  the 
simple-minded  disciple  being  astonished,  and,  at  first, 
even  afraid  to  go  on  so  strange  a  mission.  "Then 
Ananias  answered,  Lord,  I  have  heard  by  many  of 
this  man,  how  much  evil  he  hath  done  to  thy  saints 
at  Jerusalem  :  and  here  he  hath  authority  from  the 
chief  priests  to  bind  all  that  call  on  thy  name."  t 
What !  to  go  to  the  man  who,  above  all  others,  was 
signalized  for  his  cruelties  to  the  people  of  Christ ! 
But  God's  wish  is  enough.  "  He  is  not  disobedient  to 
the  heavenly  vision;"  and,  although  we  had  known 
nothing  else  of  this  kind  messenger,  we  know  enough 
from  one  word  to  see  the  strength  of  his  faith  in  God's 
command,  and  his  love  to  one  whose  name  he  was  wont 
to  think  oi  only  with  terror — "  Brother  Saul!"  He 
is  no  longer  afraid.     God  has  told  him  that  the  lion 

*  Acts  ix.  10-12.  t  Acts  ix.  13.    4. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  73 

has  become  a  lamb — the  fierce  persecutor  a  true 
believer.  He  goes  at  once  and  speaks  to  him  as  such. 
Saul  was  a  bold  and  courageous  man.  He  was  not  in 
the  habit  of  shedding  tears ;  but  I  think  a  tear  must 
have  rolled  down  from  his  raylcss  eyes  as  he  listened 
to  the  first  word  that  a  Christian  friend  ever  spoke 
to  him.  It  was  the  kindest  word  that  could  be  used. 
It  must  have  put  away  all  his  fears  if  he  had  any. 
"  Brother  Saul,  the  Lord,  even  Jesus,  that  appeared 
unto  thee  in  the  way  as  thou  earnest,  hath  sent  me 
that  thou  mightest  receive  thy  sight,  and  be  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost."  * 

Who  can  tell  but  this  kindly  little  word  may  have 
at  the  moment  sunk  firm  and  deep  into  the  soul  of 
the  great  apostle,  and  taught  him  those  large-hearted 
views  and  feelings  of  Christian  brotherhood  which  led 
him  afterwards  so  often  in  closing  his  letters  thus  to 
write,  "Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity !"  God  had  owned  him  as 
a  son,  and  whenever  Ananias  knows  this,  he  hastens 
to  own  him  as  a  brother.  "  The  Lord,  even  Jesus." 
It  was  the  first  time  he  had  listened  to  that  name 
with  feelings  of  unmingled  joy.  Christ,  indeed,  had 
Himself  spoken  to  him,  saying,  " I  am  Jesus.'"  But  at 
the  moment  that  comforting  word  was  mingled  with 
many  self-accusations.  Now  it  came  like  a  strain 
of  heavenly  music.  It  was  the  name  of  one  who  was 
henceforward  to  be  better  to  him  than  the  best  of 
of  all  earthly  friends.  "  The  Lord,  even  Jesus,  hath 
sent  me,"  not  to  upbraid  thee  for  thy  great  guilt,  and 
pierce  thy  heart  afresh  with  new  sorrows,  but  to  tell 
that  he  has  selected  thee  as  a  chosen  vessel,  to  bear  to 

*  Actsix.  17. 


74  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

distant  nations  "the  unsearchable  riches"  of  his  Gos- 
pel.* 

What  a  specimen  had  Saul  here  of  the  love  and 
kindness  both  of  Master  and  disciple  !  How  specially 
impressed  must  he  have  been  with  the  interest  mani- 
fested in  him  by  the  Lord  Jesus  !  He  had  been  breath- 
ing out  slaughter  against  one  whom  he  now  sees  could 
have  struck  him  dead  in  a  moment,  and  made  him  a 
monument  of  vengeance !  But  that  One  not  only  em- 
ploys words  of  love  and  kindness  towards  him,  but  He 
goes  to  the  street  of  a  city — He  selects  a  particular 
house  in  that  street,  where  the  new  convert  is  to  be 
lodged — He  goes  to  another  disciple,  and  tells  that 
disciple  to  see  to  the  safety  of  the  blind  Hebrew,  and 
"  speak  comfortably  unto  him." 

While  Saul  was  thus  "  called  to  be  an  apostle  by 
Jesus  Christ,"  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  he  was  bap- 
tized into  the  faith  of  Christ,  not  by  any  apostle,  or 
boasted  "successor  of  the  apostles,"  but  by  a  humble, 
lowly,  unknown  disciple.  In  these  days,  when  so  much 
is  said  on  the  subject  of  what  is  called  "  apostolical 
succession,"  and  that  baptism  is  no  real  baptism — no 
real  sacrament,  unless  administered  by  the  hands  of 
priests  who  can  trace  their  ordination,  in  an  unbroken 
line,  from  the  apostles — what  can  be  made  of  the  case 
of  the  greatest  of  all  converts,  the  holiest  of  saints,  the 
chiefest  of  apostles?  If  there  had  been  any  such  virtue 
in  the  administration  of  the  rite,  surely  the  most 
valued  disciple  that  ever  existed  in  the  Christian 
Church  would  not  have  been  denied  the  benefit  of  it. 
But  just  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  shewing  that  there  was 
no  such  imaginary  charm  in  the  dispensers  and  dispens- 

*  Blunt. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  75 

ing  of  the  ordinance,  and  that  they  who  hold  the  view 
I  refer  to,  "  teach  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of 
men,"  God  himself  specially  appoints  that  his  greatest 
Disciple,  Minister,  and  Missionary,  be  baptized,  not  by 
the  hands  of  Peter,  or  John,  or  James,  but  by 
the  hands  of  "one  Ananias"  a  humble  saint  whose  best 
"apostolical  succession"  was  his  simple  faith  and 
brotherly  love.  How  impressively  does  this  tell  us, 
that  "neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything,  nor  he 
that  watereth,  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase ! "  As 
there  was  nothing  in  the  administrator,  so  there  was  no 
virtue  in  the  element.  It  is  not  the  waters  of  the  land 
of  his  fathers — not  Kedron,  or  Siloam,  or  Jordan,  which 
are  used  in  the  sacred  rite,  but  one  of  those  countless 
streams  of  which  we  have  spoken,  that  Naaman  loved 
so  well.  Previous  to  this,  there  "  had  fallen  from  his 
eyes  as  it  had  been  scales,"  and  he  had  his  sight 
restored  to  him.  He  was  "  a  new  creature."  Thicker 
scales  had  fallen  from  his  blinded  soul.  His  whole 
future  history  is  now  to  be  told  in  a  short  verse  he 
himself  afterwards  wrote, — "  I  have  determined  with 
myself  to  know  nothing  else  save  Jesus  Christ  and 

HIM  CRUCIFIED."  * 

He  resolves  immediately  to  shew  that  he  is  not 
ashamed  of  the  Gospel.  He  had  come  to  Damascus 
in  order  that  he  might  go  into  the  synagogue  to  bind 
men  and  women,  and  drag  them  to  suffer  death  at 
Jerusalem.  He  now  stands  in  these  same  synagogues 
proclaiming  Jesus  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners  !  How 
great  must  have  been  their  astonishment !  "  But  all 
that  heard  him  were  amazed,  and  said,  Is  not  this  he 
that    destroyed   them  which  called  on  this  name  in 

*  1  Cor.  ii.  2. 


76  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Jerusalem,  and  came  hither  for  that  intent,  that  he 
might  bring  them  bound  unto  the  chief  priests'?"* 
We  can  well  imagine  the  result.  The  Jews  frown 
upon  him.  They  are  em-aged  to  think  that  the  great 
champion  of  their  religion  is  now  proclaiming  the  cru- 
cified Nazarene  to  be  very  God.  "  But  Saul  increased 
the  more  in  strength,  and  confounded  the  Jews 
which  dwelt  at  Damascus,  proving  that  this  is  very 
Christ."  t 

He  was  directed,  at  this  time,  to  go  for  a  little  season 
to  Arabia.  Writers  are  not  agreed  precisely  as  to  what 
is  meant  by  this  country — whether  it  refers  to  some 
place  not  very  far  from  Damascus,  or  whether  it  was 
what  we  more  commonly  understand  by  the  name 
Arabia — the  desert  country  near  the  Red  Sea.  Among 
other  conjectures,  it  is  supposed  Saul  may  have 
gone  to  Aurana,  now  called  Hauran,  to  the  south-east 
of  Damascus.  This  is  a  retired  and  hilly  region, 
where  the  Arabians  are  of  a  peaceful  and  primitive 
character,  tending  herds  and  flocks,  and  occupying 
themselves  in  the  manufacture  of  goats' -hair  tents.  If 
so,  we  may  think  of  him  as  possibly  returning  for  a 
season  to  his  early  calling,  supporting  himself  by  the 
work  of  his  hands,  and  exemplifying  in  that  remote 
place  his  own  future  saying — "Not  slothful  in  busi- 
ness, fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord." 

It  has  been  thought,  and  perhaps  correctly,  that  he 
began  now  for  the  first  time  to  suffer  from  that  com- 
plaint in  his  eyes  of  which  we  shall  speak  more  here- 
after. It  was  a  complaint  common  in  the  city  and 
neighbourhood  of  Damascus  during  the  damps  of  sum- 
mer and  autumn,   and,   being  generally  followed  by 

*  Acts  ix.  21.  f  Acts  ix.  22. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  77 

fever,  compelled  those  who  were  subject  to  it  to  seek 
a  healthier  climate  in  the  uplands.  It  is  not  impro- 
bable, therefore,  that  the  apostle,  suffering  in  bodily 
health,  and  after  the  severe  struggles  his  mind  had 
undergone,  would  be  glad  of  a  purer  and  more  bracing 
air  than  Damascus  could  afford. 

Though  this,  however,  may  be  so  far  true,  it  was  by 
no  means  the  chief  reason  for  his  removal  from  the 
Syrian  city.  These  Arabian  solitudes  doubtless  lis- 
tened to  many  a  fervent  prayer  from  his  lips.  He  had 
received  divine  intimation  of  the  great  warfare  in 
which  he  was  to  engage ;  and  not  wishing  to  enter  that 
warfare  on  his  own  charges,  may  we  not  believe  he 
went  thither  mainly  to  receive  strength  to  fit  him  for 
his  high  calling?  Although  he  had  for  many  years 
studied  God's  Word,  yet  how  different  would  its  types, 
and  promises,  and  prophecies  appear  now !  What  a 
new  book  to  him  in  its  Gospel  meaning  !  We  may  think 
of  him,  therefore,  in  his  retirement,  with  the  holy 
Scriptures  in  his  hands ;  the  Holy  Spirit  opening  his 
eyes  to  behold  "wondrous  things  contained  in  that 
law "  which  he  had  never  before  dreamt  of,  and  pre- 
paring him,  by  special  gifts  and  graoes,  for  unfolding 
it  to  others.  Frequent  revelations  seem  now  to  have 
been  made  to  him.  God  appears  to  have  met  him 
again  and  again  as  He  did  Elijah  of  old  in  his  lonely 
cave  in  the  wilderness  of  Horeb,  and  made  him  listen 
to  another  "  still  small  voice."  He  alludes  to  this 
on  several  occasions  in  the  course  of  his  epistles. 
"  But  I  certify  you,  brethren,  that  the  gospel  which 
was  preached  of  me  is  not  after  man.  For  I  neither 
received  it  of  man,  neither  was  I  taught  it,  but  by  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ."  *     "  For  /  have  received  oj 

*  Gal.  i.  11,  12, 


78  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

the  Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  That 
the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he  was  be- 
trayed, took  bread."  *  "  If  ye  have  heard  of  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  grace  of  God  which  is  given  me  to  you- 
ward  :  how  that  by  revelation  He  made  known  unto 
me  the  mystery." t  "But  when  it  pleased  God,  who 
separated  me  from  my  mother's  womb,  and  called  me 
by  His  grace,  to  reveal  His  Son  in  me,  that  I  might 
preach  Him  among  the  heathen ;  immediately  I  con- 
ferred not  with  flesh  and  blood :  neither  went  I  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  them  which  were  apostles  before  me ;  but 
I  went  into  Arabia,  and  returned  again  unto  Damas- 
cus." J 

Wherever,  then,  this  "Arabia"  was,  to  which  he 
refers,  although  we  are  told  nothing  but  the  fact  of  his 
having  gone  thither,  it  forms  a  very  interesting  period 
in  the  life  of  the  "  called  apostle ;"  like  his  blessed  Lord 
before  him,  retiring  into  a  lonely  solitude  to  prepare, 
by  fasting  and  prayer,  for  the  great  work  that  was 
given  him  to  do. 

What  a  change  on  that  fierce  and  energetic  spirit ! 
far  away  from  all  the  active  work  of  an  active  life, 
holding  secret  fellowship  with  God  alone  !  He  may 
have  felt  that  no  small  grace  and  strength  were  needed 
in  his  new  position.  He  had  given  up  wealth,  fame, 
friends,  country,  all,  for  a  despised  Saviour.  It  must 
have  required  much  prayer  and  divine  fortitude  for 
Gamaliel's  pupil  to  be  willing  to  endure  the  loss  of  all 
these  things,  and  to  get  in  exchange  only  poverty, 
reviling,  suffering,  and  at  last  death.  After  a  little 
while  he  returned  to  Damascus,  and  continued  there 

*  1  Cor.  ix.  23  f  Eph.  iii.  2,  8. 

t  Gal.  i.  15-17.    Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  62. 


THE  FUGITIVE. 


79 


for  "  three  years,"  or  perhaps  less,  preaching  the  faith 
which  he  once  wished  to  destroy. 

What  were  the  Jews  about  all  this  time  1     We  can- 
not think  their  rage  would  be  abated,   or  that  they 
would  be  more  inclined  to  listen  with  patience  to  the 
preaching  of  one  they  had  learnt  to  hate  as  greatly  as 
they  once  loved  him.     They  doubtless  tried  first  to 
meet  him  in  argument ;  but  "  they  could  not  resist  the  . 
power  and  spirit  with  which  he  spake."     They  formed  a 
cruel  design  "  to  kill  Saul !"     Their  purpose  of  murder 
seemed  successfully  planned,  and  they  had  little  doubt  of 
making  sure  of  their  prey.     The  walls  around  the  city 
were  high  and  well  guarded.     The  ruler,  who  was  a 
friend  to  the  Jews,  assented  to  the  charge  they  brought 
against  him,  and  issued  a  warrant  for  his  apprehen- 
sion.    He  gave  orders  to  his  soldiers  to  keep  a  vigilant 
guard  in  case  the  new  Christian  teacher  would  escape ; 
and  the  Israelites  themselves,  to  make  all  sure,  took 
their  turn  of  watching  him  day  and  night,  lest  he 
might   elude   the    vigilance    of  the   soldiers.      But  a 
Greater  than  all  was  with  the  obj  ect  of  their  rage.     The 
Lord  himself  is  "  keeping  the  city,"  and  His  ^servant 
within  it,  and  these  watchmen  "  watch  in  vain."     Saul 
could  say,  with  his  great  aDcestor— "  Lord,  how  are 
they  increased  that  trouble  me!  many  are  they  that 
rise  up  against  me.      Many  there  be  which  say  of 
my  soul,  There  is  no  help  for  him  in  God.     But  thou, 
0   Lord,   art   a   shield   for   me;    my  glory,   and   the 
lifter  up  of  mine  head.    ....    I  will  not  be  afraid 
of  ten  thousands  of  people,  that  have  set  themselves 
against  me  round  about."  *    He  finds  his  way  probably 
to  one  of  the  houses  of  his  brother  Christians,  where 

*  Psalm  iii.  1,  2,  3,  6. 


80  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

doubtless  he  would  be  commended  in  prayer  to  Him 
who  "  bringeth  the  counsel  of  the  heathen  to  nought, 
and  maketh  the  devices  of  the  people  of  none  effect." 
This  house  happened  to  be  close  by  the  city  wall ; 
probably,  like  many  dwellings  in  the  East,  it  was  built 
to  jut  over  it,  forming  what  is  called  a  kiosk,  from 
which  a  view  is  obtained  of  the  open  country.  The 
apostle  is  put  into  a  basket ;  this  is  slung  from  a  win- 
dow by  means  of  a  rope,  as  you  see  represented  in  the 
picture,  and  gradually  lowered  to  the  foot  of  the  wall. 

"  As  I  stood  with  a  friend,"  sa}rs  a  recent  traveller, 
who  resided  at  Damascus,  looking  at  the  place  re- 
ferred to,  "  a  couple  of  men  came  to  the  top  of  the  wall 
with  a  broad  flat  basket,  full  of  rubbish,  which  they 
emptied  over  the  wall.  '  Such  a  basket,'  said  my 
friend,  '  the  people  use  here  for  almost  every  sort  of 
thing.  If  they  are  digging  a  well,  and  wish  to  send  a 
man  down  into  it,  they  put  him  into  such  a  basket ; 
and  that  those  who  aided  Paul's  escape  should  have 
used  a  basket  for  the  purpose,  was  entirely  natural 
according  to  the  present  customs  of  the  country. 
Judging  from  what  is  done  now,  it  is  the  only  sort  of 
vehicle  of  which  men  would  be  apt  to  think  under 
such  circumstances.'  Pilgrims  are  admitted  into  the 
monastery  at  Mount  Sinai  in  a  similar  manner.  A 
rope,  with  a  basket  attached  to  it,  is  let  down  from  a 
window  or  door  about  thirty  feet  above  the  ground. 
Those  who  are  to  ascend,  seat  themselves  one  after 
another  in  this  basket,  and  are  thus  drawn  up  by 
means  of  a  pulley  or  windlass  turned  by  those  in  the 
convent."  * 

It  may  have  been  at  a  place  which  the  Jews  thought 

*  Professor  Ilackett.     Sec  2  Cor.  xi.  32,  33. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  SI 

there  was  little  need  of  guarding  that  Saul  was  let 
down,  or  perhaps  he  was  favoured  by  the  darkness  of 
the  night.  We  should  rather  say  the  same  Saviour, 
who  had  "  appeared  to  him  on  the  way,"  had  given  His 
angels  charge  over  him  to  encamp  round  about  him. 
He  would  hear  a  voice  saying  in  that  midnight  hour, 
"  Fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee."  Assured  of  safety, 
ere  long  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of  his  enemies. 

Was  there  anything  cowardly  in  this  midnight  escape  1 
On  the  contrary,  I  think  there  was  rather  something- 
noble  in  it.  Doubtless,  if  Saul  had  consulted  his  own 
feelings,  his  natural  fortitude  and  the  remains  of  his 
natural  pride  would  have  said  to  him,  "  No  !  brave  it 
out,  and  die  like  Stephen,  the  glorious  death  of  a  mar- 
tyr!" But  he  acted  in  what  he  did  more  in  accord- 
ance with  the  will  of  his  Lord — that  Lord  who  had  left 
as  a  special  injunction  to  his  disciples,  "  When  they 
persecute  you  in  one  city,  flee  ye  to  another."  No 
one  who  reads  the  Apostle's  life  will  ever  accuse  him 
of  timidity.  He  who  could  afterwards  hear  unter- 
rified  the  growl  of  Nero's  lions,  and  say,  in  the  pros- 
pect of  a  violent  death,  "  None  of  these  things  move 
me,"  would  not  have  been  afraid  now  to  face  "  the 
perils  of  false  brethren;"  but  he  felt  that,  "to  abide 
in  the  flesh  "  was  as  yet  needful  for  the  great  work  as- 
signed to  him.  He  burned  with  a  holy  desire,  before 
finishing  his  earthly  course,  to  repair  those  breaches 
which,  while  an  enemy  of  the  truth,  he  had  made  on 
the  walls  of  the  infant  Church. 

AVhat  an  eventful  night  that  must  have  been  to  him  ! 
The  once  proud  horseman,  so  lately  riding  along  these 
plains,  is  now  a  hated  and  hunted  fugitive  !  My  young 
readers  may  imagine  him  hurrying  from  his  first  cxpe- 

F 


bZ  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

rience  of  those  "perils  of  the  city"  of  which  he  after- 
wards so  touchingly  wrote.  The  night,  as  we  have 
supposed,  may  have  been  a  dark  one ;  or  perhaps,  ere 
he  had  gone  far,  the  moon  had  risen  in  all  its  clear 
eastern  splendour,  lighting  up  the  hoary  summits  of 
the  distant  Lebanon,  and  making  Abana  and  Pharpar 
appear  like  threads  of  silver  winding  along  the  flat 
plain.  How  many  thoughts  must  have  crowded  upon 
him,  and  more  especially  as  the  first  hills  of  Palestine 
reveal  themselves  in  the  morning  light !  He  finds 
himself  (now  a  disciple  of  the  Nazarene)  looking  across 
in  the  direction  of  that  village  and  name  (Nazareth) 
once  despised,  which  he  now  so  loved.  Saul  had  from 
his  boyhood,  like  all  Jews,  learned  to  value  and  admire 
the  Psalms  of  David ;  and  we  know  it  was  the  custom 
of  the  Israelites,  in  going  up  to  Jerusalem  to  their 
feasts,  to  cheer  themselves  on  the  way  by  chanting 
them  in  company.  Perchance,  during  this  solitary  pil- 
grimage, these  formed  his  "songs  in  the  night."  If  so, 
with  what  new  zest  must  he  have  sung  them  !  with 
what  new  meaning  must  they  have  been  invested, 
since  he  had  first  learned  them  at  his  Tarsus  home  ! 
The  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel  was  ouce,  like  himself,  a 
lonely,  friendless  exile,  hunted  "  like  a  partridge  on  the 
mountains."  Who  can  tell  but  the  heavenly  musings 
of  the  fugitive  king  may  have  proved  cheering  solaces 
to  the  spirit  of  the  fugitive  Christian  1  "  Why  art 
thou  cast  down,  0  my  soul?  and  why  art  thou  dis- 
quieted within  me  1  Hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall 
yet  praise  Him  for  the  light  of  His  countenance." 
"  My  heart  is  fixed,  0  God  !  my  heart  is  fixed ;  I  will 
sing  and  give  praise."  "  The  stone  which  the  builders 
refused,  is  become  the  head-stone  of  the  corner.     This 


THE  FUGITIVE.  83 

is   the    Lord's   doing,    and   it   is   marvellous   in    our 
eyes." 

We  need  not  follow  him  further  in  his  old  and  weJI- 
known  journey.  He  turned  his  steps  in  the  direction 
of  Jerusalem,  principally,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  "to  see 
Peter."  He  wished  to  get  acquainted  with  that  groat 
apostle,  the  companion  of  his  Lord,  and  the  great  in- 
strument in  the  Pentecostal  revival,  in  order  to  get  from 
him  counsel  and  advice  about  his  future  work.  It  must 
have  been  with  a  trembling  step  and  faltering  heart, 
when  the  old  towers  of  the  holy  city  once  more  rose 
before  his  view.  The  glittering  pinnacles  of  the  tem- 
ple and  the  altar  courts — what  different  feelings  does 
the  first  glimpse  of  them  now  convey,  compared  with 
his  first  journey  from  Tarsus  to  Jerusalem !  Now  their 
glory  is  all  past.  He  may  have  seen  at  the  moment 
the  smoke  of  the  sacrifices  ascending  to  heaven.  But 
these  were  only  the  shadows — the  Substance  had  come, 
and  with  His  coming,  all  the  types  were  done  away. 
These  former  glories  had  now  in  his  eyes  "  no  glory, 
by  reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth."  From  the  road 
by  which  he  entered  the  city,  the  tiny  waters  of  the 
Kedron,  or  at  all  events  the  green  sward  of  the  valley 
through  which  it  flowed,  must  have  met  his  eye.  The 
voice,  too,  of  a  brother's  blood  must  have  there  been 
sounding  mournfully  in  his  ears.  How  could  he  meet 
that  dreadful  band  of  murderers  who  were  so  lately  his 
bosom  friends  and  companions  1  What  a  look  of  scorn 
and  reproach  he  must  expect  to  be  cast  upon  him, 
when  he  next  sees  the  old  master  whose  instructions 
he  still  reveres  !  How  will  every  Jew  hate  him  !  how 
must  every  Christian,  for  a  time  at  least,  suspect  him  ! 
Ho  had  left  Jerusalem,  honoured  and   caressed — the 


84:  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

prayers  and  blessings  of  many  a  father  and  mother  in 
Israel  had  followed  him — priests  and  people  had  spoken 
of  him  as  a  yonng  hero.  Now  his  name  would  be  in 
every  lip  as  a  vile  apostate  and  castaway.  All  these 
are  very  painful  thoughts  ;  but  he  goes  manfully  on, 
feeling  that  "  the  Lord  will  stand  by  him."  The  words 
of  the  Psalmist  were,  perhaps,  often  in  his  lips, — "  In 
God  have  I  put  my  trust :  I  will  not  be  afraid  what 
man  can  do  unto  me.  Thy  vows  are  upon  me,  0  God : 
I  will  render  praises  unto  Thee.  For  Thou  hast  de- 
livered my  soul  from  death  :  wilt  not  Thou  deliver  my 
feet  from  falling,  that  I  may  walk  before  God  in  the 
light  of  the  living?"* 

Much  of  what  he  dreaded  does  take  place.  The 
Jews  hate  —  the  Christians  are  suspicious.  He  had 
come  to  Jerusalem  probably  supposing  that  the  news 
of  his  conversion  would  have  reached  long  ago,  and 
been  well  known  to  them  all.  We  must  remember, 
however,  that  communications  between  distant  places 
were  neither  so  frequent,  nor  so  much  to  be  relied  on 
as  now  ;  and  very  possibly  the  Christian  disciples  may 
have  heard  only  floating  rumours  about  the  sudden 
change,  and  treated  it  as  a  very  unlikely  story.  We 
cannot  wonder,  therefore,  they  give  him  at  first  a  cold 
reception.  "  And  when  Saul  was  come  to  Jerusalem, 
he  essayed  to  join  himself  to  the  disciples  :  but  they 
were  all  afraid  of  him,  and  believed  not  that  he  was  a 
disciple."  t  How  cutting  to  the  feelings  of  the  future 
apostle  !  How  cheerless  and  chilling  an  introduction 
to  his  future  fellow-labourers  and  friends  !  'One  of 
their  number,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more  hereafter, 
comes  and  speaks  a  kinder  word  for  him.     Barnabas, 

*  Psalms  lvi.  11-13.  t  Acts  ix.  26. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  85 

who  proved  all  that  his  name  implies — "  a  son  of  con- 
solation"— takes  him  by  the  hand,  and  told  the  others 
"  how  the  Lord  had  appeared  to  him  by  the  way,  and 
spoken  to  him,  and  how  he  had  preached  boldly  at 
Damascus  in  the  name  of  Jesus."  We  ought  not  to 
place  much  reliance  on  mere  tradition ;  but  there  is  a 
story,  beautiful  in  itself,  and  not  improbable,  that  has 
been  handed  down  to  us  regarding  Barnabas  and  Saul. 
It  is  said  that,  having  been  schoolfellows  and  playmates 
under  Gamaliel,  Barnabas,  who  had  become  a  believer 
at  an  early  date,  had  often  prayed  for  the  conversion 
of  his  friend,  and  pleaded  with  him  personally  to  no 
effect :  that  he  met  him  on  this  occasion  on  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem,  not  aware  at  the  time  of  what  had  taken 
place  at  Damascus.  He  once  more  began,  as  formerly, 
to  plead  with  him  to  renounce  Judaism,  and  become  a 
Christian,  Saul  threw  himself  weeping  at  his  feet,  and 
told  him  the  joyful  news.""  Be  this  as  it  may,  Gospel 
love  cannot  any  longer  be  withheld — Peter  and  James, 
who  alone  of  the  apostles  were  then  present,  gave  him 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  From  that  moment  they 
were  brothers.  We  seem  to  hear  them  saying  to  him, 
in  his  own  beautiful  language,  "Brother!  thou  art 
no  more  a  stranger  and  a  foreigner,  but  a  fellow-citizen 
with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God."  It  is 
peculiarly  beautiful  to  see  Peter,  and  very  characteristic 
of  him,  so  ready  to  welcome  Saul,  when  many  of  the 
other  disciples  were  hanging  cautiously  back.  He, 
doubtless,  would  remember  his  own  case  —  how  he, 
too,  had  been  a  denier  of  his  Lord — basely  forsaking 
Him  whom  once  he  had  loved,  and  had  been  so  tenderly 
loved  in  return.     He  must  have  felt  that  in  this  respect 

*  Bible  Cyclopaedia. 


86  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

his  sin  was  greater  far  than  that  of  the  Cilician,  who 
"did  it  ignorantly  in  unbelief;"  and  how  much 
more  justly,  therefore,  the  brethren  might  have  re- 
fused to  receive  him  back  again  as  a  disciple,  and 
especially  as  an  apostle.  But  would  he  deny  to  Saul  a 
welcome,  when  his  forgiving  Lord  had  not  denied  one 
to  him  ?  Saul  had  abundantly  answered  that  great 
question  of  Jesus,  which  Peter  to  his  dying  hour  never 
could  forget — "Lovesfc  thou  me1?"  and,  conscious  of 
the  same  love  to  the  same  gracious  Shepherd  from 
whom  they  had  both  wandered,  these  stray  sheep  re- 
joice together  in  the  same  fold.  Their  common  Lord 
had  represented  Himself  as  greeting  the  returning 
prodigal  while  he  was  yet  "  a  great  way  off."  It  was 
befitting,  therefore,  that  when  the  two  brothers  met, 
"  they  should  make  merry,  and  be  glad."  Saul's  going 
to  Jerusalem  at  this  time  must,  indeed,  have  required 
more  than  ordinary  fortitude.  It  is  no  easy  matter 
for  those  with  a  naturally  lofty  spirit  like  him  to  own 
that  they  are  wrong,  and  to  find  old  friends  turned 
against  them.  Great,  too,  must  have  been  the 
courage  required  to  face  them  in  public  —  to  stand 
in  the  midst  of  a  synagogue  where  once  he  could 
see  nothing  but  smiling  faces — now  darkened  with 
anger !  But  he  seems  to  have  felt  it  his  duty,  in  the 
city  where  he  had  done  so  much  harm,  "  to  deny  him- 
self, and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Jesus."  His 
yearning  love  to  his  Jewish  brethren,  of  which  he  after- 
wards so  touch ingly  speaks,  and  his  earnest  desire  to 
remove,  if  possible,  the  blindness  from  their  eyes,  seems 
to  have  greatly  prompted  him  to  this  early  visit  to 
Jerusalem.  "  I  say  the  truth  in  Christ,  I  lie  not,  (my 
science  also  bearing  me  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost), 


THE  FUGITIVE.  $7 

that  I  have  great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in 
my  heart  for  my  brethren,  my  kinsmen  according  to 
the  flesh."*  Perhaps,  in  the  first  ardour  of  his  new 
spiritual  life,  so  convinced  had  he  been  himself  of  his 
own  error  in  rejecting  the  Saviour,  he  may  have  sup- 
posed that  he  would  have  had  little  difficulty  in  win- 
ning over  to  the  same  belief  those  with  whom  he  formerly 
possessed  much  influence.  Alas  !  he  soon  found  that 
it  is  nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  that  can  melt  the 
hard  heart,  and  open  the  sealed  eyes.  Though  his  old 
friends  and  kinsmen,  however,  thus  disowned  him, 
many  Christian  hearts  and  homes  were  open  to  him. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  after  what  I  have  said, 
that  the  Apostle  Peter's  house  became  his  dwelling  at 
this  time.  There  he  remained  for  fifteen  days.  There 
is  nothing  told  us  regarding  this  fortnight's  intercourse 
between  these  two  great  apostles — the  fisherman  of 
Galilee,  and  the  pupil  of  the  learned  Gamaliel.  We 
can  picture  to  ourselves  what  their  fellowship  would 
be ;  their  talk  together,  evening  after  evening,  when 
the  day's  work  was  over.  Saul  would  doubtless  love 
to  listen  to  Peter's  account  of  the  Saviour's  blessed  life 
— the  never-to-be-forgotten  sayings  and  doings  which 
he  was  privileged  to  hear  and  to  witness.  How  the 
fervid  soul  of  the  narrator  would  kindle  at  the  recol- 
lection of  his  Master's  many  acts  of  personal  kindness 
and  love,  and  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out 
of  his  mouth !  Peter,  we  know,  was  not  afterwards 
slow  to  confess  and  speak  of  his  own  failings ;  may  we 
not  suppose  he  would  even  narrate  with  many  tears 
the  story  of  his  fall,  that  he  might  contrast  with  it  the 

*  Romans  ix.  1-3.     See  the  rendering  of  these  verses  in  Haldane  On  the 

Romans. 


88  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

tender  love  of  Him  who  so  graciously  forgave  him  ! 
He  would  fondly  recall  the  special  message  sent  by  the 
angel,  "Go  and  tell  Peter;'"'  and  how,  when  he  met  face 
to  face  the  Lord  he  had  denied,  he  got  no  harsher 
rebuke  than  the  thrice-repeated  question,  "  Simon,  son 
of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  V  We  may  well  believe  these 
two  holy  men,  who  had  each  received  in  different  ways 
such  touching  proofs  of  Jesus'  love,  would  pray  ear- 
nestly together  on  their  bended  knees  that  God  would 
enable  them,  by  their  future  lives  and  ministry,  to 
make  good  the  words,  "  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things  ; 
thou  knowest  that  we  love  Thee."  Sometimes  their 
conversation  would  turn  on  matters  concerning  the 
welfare  of  the  Church,  or  it  may  be,  after  the  stormy 
discussions  in  the  synagogue,  other  kindred  spirits 
would  be  assembled  along  with  them  in  this  quiet 
home,  for  mutual  prayer  and  encouragement. 

It  has  been  reckoned  to  have  been  now  about  the 
time  of  the  Passover  (April,  41).  Jerusalem  was 
crowded  with  Jewish  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Saul  himself  being  by  birth  one  of  these 
Hellenists,  or  Jews  of  the  dispersion,  had  probably 
thought  it  would  be  a  suitable  commencement  to  his 
ministerial  work  to  "  dispute  against  the  Grecians," 
and  proclaim  to  them  the  name  of  his  crucified  Master. 
"  He  hoped,  no  doubt,  that  an  enlarged  measure  of 
success  would  attend  his  ministry  in  this  city,  where 
his  previous  life,  and  habits,  and  education  were  so 
universally  known,  and  that  the  miracle  of  his  conver- 
sion would  here  form  an  irresistible  argument  to  the 
truth  of  his  doctrine.  Very  different,  however,  are  the 
intentions  of  God,  respecting  our  future  disposal,  from 
intentions   of  ourselves   and   our   friends.       Saul 


THE  FUGITIVE,  £9 

perhaps  expected  to  spend  many  years  at  Jerusalem. 
The  Almighty  had  appointed  that  he  should  remain 
there  fifteen  days  I "  * 

The  Lord  Jesus  had  other  work  in  reserve  for  him. 
His  special  name  from  this  time  was  to  be  "  The  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles."  He  was  to  be  the  great  Missionary  of 
the  infant  Church,  as  his  Lord  had  declared  to  Ananias 
in  Damascus — "  Ho  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me  to  bear 
my  name  before  the  Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the  children 
of  Israel."  His  remaining  any  longer  at  Jerusalem  at 
present  would  be  attended  with  great  danger  to  him- 
self; for,  unknown  to  him,  there  was  already  a  plot- 
laid  for  his  destruction,  and  no  human  means  could 
have  prevented  the  early  loss  of  a  life  so  precious. 
The  Jews  at  this  time,  as  we  learn  from  history,  must 
have  had  their  fiercest  passions  roused  into  action,  so 
as  to  make  them  ready  for  any  daring  crime.  This 
was  owing  to  a  threatened  violation  of  their  national 
and  religious  feelings  by  the  wicked  Roman  emperor, 
Caligula.  He  had  given  orders  to  have  his  statue 
erected  in  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem, — a  proposal  so 
abhorrent  to  the  mind  of  every  Israelite,  that  they  re- 
solved to  shed  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  in  resisting 
it.  Fortunately,  however,  the  news  of  his  death  by 
the  hand  of  an  assassin  reached  the  Jewish  capital 
during  the  very  time  that  Saul  was  living  there  in 
the  house  of  Peter.t  Their  fury,  therefore,  now  finds 
vent  in  another  channel,  against  the  devoted  apostle, 
and  a  Higher  than  any  human  friend  warns  him  of  his 
danger.  One  day  Saul  went  up  to  the  temple,  in 
great  sadness  of  spirit  at  all  this  violent  opposition,  to 
seek  comfort  and  support  in  prayer.     When  he  w 

*  Blunt's  lectures,  vol.  i  p.  S9.  f  Josephus. 


% 


90  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

his  knees,  the  Lord  Jesus  again  appeared  to  him  in  a 
trance  or  vision.  This  memorable  occasion  he  speaks 
of  afterwards,  as  what  he  might  well  "  glory  in,"  were 
he  given  to  boasting.  He  was  caught  up  into  the 
third  heavens,  and  heard  "  unspeakable  words,  which 
it  is  not  lawful  (or  possible)  for  a  man  to  utter."  In 
that  vision  Jesus  told  him  expressly  to  leave  Jerusalem, 
as  "  they  would  not  receive  his  testimony."  It  may  be 
well  to  quote  his  own  description.  "  And  it  came  to 
pass,  that,  when  I  wTas  come  again  to  Jerusalem,  even 
while  I  prayed  in  the  temple,  I  was  in  a  trance ;  and 
saw  Him  saying  unto  me,  Make  haste,  and  get  thee 
quickly  out  of  Jerusalem  :  for  they  will  not  receive 
thy  testimony  concerning  me.  And  I  said,  Lord,  they 
know  that  I  imprisoned  and  beat  in  every  synagogue 
them  that  believed  on  thee."*  What,  we  may  be  led 
to  ask,  is  Saul's  precise  meaning  in  giving  this  answer  1 
It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  "  Lord,  if  there  be  any  place 
surely  where  I  will  have  attentive  listeners,  it  will  be 
in  Jerusalem,  where  there  are  many  who  knew  me  well 
as  Saul  the  persecutor — the  murderer  of  holy  Stephen  ; 
and  when  they  think  of  me  being  at  one  time  as  fierce 
and  bitter  against  Thy  name  as  themselves,  and  see 
what  Thy  grace  can  do,  they  will  not  surely  refuse  my 
testimony  !"t 

"Man  proposeth,  but  God  disposeth  !"  Nay,  "but 
0  man  !  who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God  V  His 
Divine  Master,  on  that  same  occasion,  answers  aim  in 
a  single  sentence,  telling  him  what  his  future  work  and 
calling  is  to  be — "  Depart,  for  I  will  send  thee  far 
hence  unto  the  Gentiles."  At  this  vision  his  drooping 
t  revives.       Meanwhile  the  brethren  become  ac- 


im; 


Acts  xsiL  17-19.  t  Blunt. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  91 

quainted  with  the  conspiracy  against  his  life,  and  they 
get  him  persuaded  immediately  to  leave  Jerusalem. 

Could  he  leave  it,  do  you  think,  without  a  pang  ? 
As  he  passed  through  its  gates,  I  doubt  not  he  wept, 
like  his  Lord,  over  its  hardness  and  unbelief.  We 
may  imagine  hiin  pausing  on  the  rising  ground  out- 
side, and  taking  one  last  look  of  the  fated  city,  under 
the  feeling  that  he  may  never  see  it  again  ;  and  that 
when  he  is  sleeping  in  his  grave,  "  far  hence  among  the 
Gentiles,"  the  proud  towers  and  palaces  and  temple 
which  now  meet  his  eye,  may  be  blazing  under  the 
torch  of  the  conqueror.  Willingly  would  he  have 
lingered  for  a  while  in  her  streets,  to  try  and  convince 
these  hard  hearts  of  their  guilt,  and  bring  them  to  re- 
pentance •  but  the  voice  of  his  God  has  called  him  else- 
where, and  he  feels  he  must  obey.  The  disciples  take 
means  to  have  him  privately  conveyed  to  Cesarea.  He 
probably  takes  a  ship  from  thence  to  Cilicia,  and  after 
an  eventful  absence,  the  Apostle  finds  himself  once  more 
in  the  city  and  scenes  of  his  infancy.  There,  it  is  pro- 
bable, he  was  actively  engaged  in  preaching  the  Gospel. 
From  all  we  can  gather,  this  was  his  last  visit  to  Tarsus. 
We  shall  leave  him  seated  in  his  old  chamber,  looking 
out  on  the  crags  of  Mount  Taurus,  and  the  shadows  of 
the  Roman  vessels  reflected  in  the  waters  of  the 
Cydnus, — talking,  perhaps,  to  his  sister  about  his  own 
great  change,  and  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  whom 
once  he  scoffed  at,  now  his  chiefest  boast, — kneeling,  it 
may  be,  in  prayer  with  her,  and  asking  Jesus  to  pour 
his  grace  into  her  heart,  as  He  had  done  into  his.  We 
shall  leave  Saul  in  thought  in  this  loved  retreat,  while 
we  trace  what  work  was  preparing  for  him  in  other 
cities. 


CHAPTER  YI. 


®|e  gfesimwnr. 


"  Up  to  thy  Master's  work  !  for  thou  art  call'd 
To  do  His  bidding,  till  the  hand  of  death 
Strike  off  thine  armour.     Noble  field  is  thine — 
The  soul  thy  province,  that  mysterious  thing 
Which  hath  no  limit  from  the  walls  of  sense. 

Oh  !  live  the  life  of  prayer, 

The  life  of  tireless  labour  for  His  sake  ; 
So  may  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant  bring 
Thee  to  thy  home  in  bliss,  with  many  a  gem 
To  glow  for  ever  in  thy  Master's  crown." 

"Over  the  vast  extent  of  the  Roman  empire,  Paul  everywhere 
projects  his  shadow.  What  are  we,  preachers  or  missionaries  of  a 
day,  before  such  a  man  ! " — Monod. 


,-/;\ 


IP'ilUI   \  - 


readers  will  carry  their  eye  along  the 
coast  of  Palestine,  they  will  see  the  names  of  two  cities 
marked,  at  a  considerable  distance  from  each  other. 
The  one  was  Joppa  or  Jaffa,  strikingly  situated  on  a 
rocky  ledge,  jutting  into  the  sea.  From  it,  you 
„  remember,  Jonah  fled  when  God  wished  him  to  go  to 
Nineveh.  It  was  also  famous  as  the  old  port  of  Jeru- 
salem, to  which  Solomon  floated  his  rafts  of  cedar- wood 
from  Lebanon  for  the  building  of  the  temple.  The 
other  city  was  Cesarea,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken.  It  was  situated  35  miles  north  of  Joppa, 
built  by  Herod  in  honour  of  his  royal  master,  and 
called  after  him.  He  constructed  there,  at  enormous 
cost  and  labour,  a  harbour,  where  ships  might  ride  in 


CHAPTER  VI. 


%\t  jftissimrarg. 


"  Up  to  thy  Master's  work  !  for  thou  art  calPd 
To  do  His  bidding,  till  the  hand  of  death 
Strike  off  thine  armour.     Noble  field  is  thine — 
The  soul  thy  province,  that  mysterious  thing 
Which  hath  no  limit  from  the  walls  of  sense. 

Oh  !  live  the  life  of  prayer, 

The  life  of  tireless  labour  for  His  sake  ; 
So  may  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant  bring 
Thee  to  thy  home  in  bliss,  with  many  a  gem 
To  glow  for  ever  in  thy  Master's  crown." 

"  Over  the  vast  extent  of  the  Roman  empire,  Paul  everywhere 
projects  his  shadow.  What  are  we,  preachers  or  missionaries  of  a 
day,  before  such  a  man  ! " — Monod. 


M 


■1'X 


\'ii 


W^ 


w* 


f  my  readers  will  carry  their  eye  along  the 
coast  of  Palestine,  they  will  see  the  names  of  two  cities 
marked,  at  a  considerable  distance  from  each  other. 
The  one  was  Joppa  or  Jaffa,  strikingly  situated  on  a 
rocky  ledge,  jutting  into  the  sea.  From  it,  you 
„  remember,  Jonah  fled  when  God  wished  him  to  go  to 
Nineveh.  It  was  also  famous  as  the  old  port  of  Jeru- 
salem, to  which  Solomon  floated  his  rafts  of  cedar- wood 
from  Lebanon  for  the  building  of  the  temple.  The 
other  city  was  Cesarea,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken.  It  was  situated  35  miles  north  of  Joppa, 
built  by  Herod  in  honour  of  his  royal  master,  and 
called  after  him.  He  constructed  there,  at  enormous 
cost  and  labour,  a  harbour,  where  ships  might  ride  in 


94  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

safety  from  the  fearful  western  storms  that  swept  the 
coast.  Also,  a  large  Roman  theatre,  a  remnant  of 
which,  at  the  present  day,  survives  among  the  other 
ruins. 

While  Saul  was  at  his  Tarsus  home,  there  dwelt  two 
celebrated  individuals  in  these  two  towns.  The 
Apostle  Peter  was  living  in  Joppa,  in  the  house  of  a 
tanner.*  A  Roman  officer,  of  a  great  family,  called 
Cornelius,  was  stationed  at  Cesarea.  He  was  centu- 
rion (or  captain  over  a  hundred)  of  a  troop  of  Italian 
soldiers,  which  were  there  in  garrison  as  a  body-guard 
to  the  Roman  governor.  Peter  one  day,  as  he  was  en- 
gaged in  prayer  on  the  roof  of  his  house,  "  overlooking 
the  waves  of  the  Western  Sea — the  sea  of  Greece  and 
Rome — the  sea  of  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles "t — fell  into 
a  trance,  which  you  will  find  particularly  described  in 
Acts  x.  3.  He  heard  a  voice  commanding  him  to 
u  slay  and  eat "  some  of  the  animals  prohibited  to  be 
eaten  by  the  Levitical  law.  J  The  day  preceding  this, 
Cornelius  had  a  vision  also  in  his  house  at  Cesarea, 
telling  him  to  send  messengers  to  Joppa,  to  inquire 
there  for  "one  Simon,  whose  surname  was  Peter." 
The  messengers  just  arrived  when  the  latter  was 
returning  from  his  devotions,  and  wondering  what  the 
vision  he  had  witnessed  could  mean.  Their  appear- 
ance furnished  him  at  once  with  an  explanation.  It 
was  nothing  less  than  this,  that  the  Gentiles  were  now 
to  be  admitted  to  share  the  privileges  of  the  Jews  ;  and 
that  the  distinction  between  clean  and  unclean  animals, 

*  The  trade  of  a  tanner  was  generally  despised  by  the  Jews,  as  being 
connected  with  dead  animals,  and  many  of  these  in  themselves,  according 
to  their  law,  unclean.  It  was  generally  carried  on  in  the  outskirts  of 
towns  near  the  sea. 

t  Stanley's  Sermons  and  Essai/s,  p.  94.  t  Lev.  xi. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  95 

which  was  till  this  time  the  sign  or  badge  of  separa- 
tion, was  henceforth  to  be  done  away.  Peter  did  not 
hesitate  to  obey  the  heavenly  voice.  Many  years 
before,  his  Lord  had  given  him  the  "  keys  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  He  now  understood  the  meaning  of 
the  words.  The  gates  of  salvation,  which  had  for  ages 
been  locked  against  the  Gentiles,  were  now  to  be 
thrown  open  to  "all  people  ;"  and  he  was  to  have  the 
privilege  of  first  unbarring  them.  We  find  him  the 
following  day  standing  in  the  house  or  barrack-room 
of  the  centurion,  where  the  good  Roman  soldier  had 
also  gathered  his  kinsmen  and  near  friends.  The  Gos- 
pel of  the  grace  of  God  is  freely  proclaimed  to  Gentile 
hearers,  and,  henceforth,  "in  every  nation  he  that 
feareth  God  and  wcrketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of 
him."*  The  Holy  Ghost  descended.  The  officer  of 
Rome,  his  house,  and  believing  friends,  were  all  bap- 
tized. It  was  a  most  solemn  and  joyous  moment  for 
the  Church  of  Christ. 

The  Gospel  ship  is  now  fairly  launched  in  Gentile 
waters.  The  Gospel  seed  has  now  fairly  taken  root  in 
Gentile  soil.  There  is  one  spot — a  noted  city — upon 
which,  at  this  time,  the  mind  rests  with  more  than  or- 
dinary interest.  If  you  again  examine  your  mapt  of 
Asia,  you  will  find,  far  north  from  Damascus,  a  little 
way  inland  from  the  Mediterranean,  and  almost  oppo- 
site the  island  of  Cyprus,  the  city  of  Antioch.  Antioch 
was  situated  on  the  river  Orontes,  20  miles  from 
the  sea,  and  300  miles  from  Jerusalem.  It  formed 
the  great  mart  of  Eastern  luxury,  and,  from  its  central 
position,  commanded  the  whole  trade  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean.    It  was  the  outlet  for  merchants  and  cara- 

*  Acts  x.  35.         f  See  the  green  line  in  the  map, 


96  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

vans  who  travelled  from  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  and  ranked  third  (after  Rome  and  Alexan- 
dria) among  the  cities  of  the  Roman  empire.  Some 
Jewish  converts — natives  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene — had 
already  gone  thither  and  proclaimed  the  Gospel.  Its 
Gentile  inhabitants  were  beginning  to  be  converted  to 
the  faith  of  Jesus.  Many  Greeks  there  "  believed  and 
turned  to  the  Lord."  Barnabas,  whose  name  has 
already  been  favourably  before  us,  crossed  from  his 
native  island  of  Cyprus,  and  preached  to  them.  But 
the  numbers  were  growing,  and  he  felt  the  urgency  of 
having  an  abler  minister  to  argue  with  Jewish  preju- 
dices, Greek  learning,  and  false  philosophy.  He,  as 
"  the  son  of  consolation,"  was  able  enough  to  comfort 
and  direct  young  inquirers.  But  he  needed  some 
"  son  of  thunder"  to  rouse  the  careless,  and  overturn 
the  wisdom  of  men  by  the  wisdom  of  God.*  Where 
can  he  look?  Who  can  he  think  of  as  the  fittest  man 
for  such  a  work?  I  need  scarcely  name  him!  The 
Cyprian  apostle  embarked  in  some  trading  vessel  which 
was  bound  for  the  Cydnus,  and  went,  it  is  conjectured, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  year  43,  "  to  Tarsus  to  seek 
Saul"  We  may  picture  their  meeting.  The  heart 
especially  clings  to  the  friends  who  have  been  kind  to 
us  in  times  of  trial.  With  what  joy  must  Saul  have 
seen  the  well-known  face  that  had  beamed  with  kind- 
ness and  good- will  upon  him  in  Jerusalem,  when  the 
other  disciples  were  cold  and  suspicious  !  "  The  son  of 
consolation"  has,  indeed,  "  consoling"  news  to  give  his 
old  friend  since  they  last  met — that  "  God  had  granted 
to  the  Gentiles  repentance  unto  life!"  He  could  tell 
what  he  had  seen  with  his  own  eyes  in  the  city  he  had 

*  The  Apostle  Paul :  a  Biography. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  97 

left.  Saul  does  not  hesitate  to  obey  his  wish,  He 
leaves,  possibly  for  the  last  time,  the  home  of  his 
youth  ;  and  the  two  holy  men  of  God  set  out  together 
for  the  great  work  in  store  for  them  at  Antioch. 

We  cannot  omit  just  noting  by  the  way  the  unself- 
ish conduct  of  Barnabas.  He  had  himself  been  doing 
much  good  in  this  city — had  gained  many  converts, 
and  formed  many  Christian  friendships.  By  his  la- 
bours, we  read,  "  much  people  in  Antioch  had  been 
added  to  the  Lord."  If  he  had  been  a  jealous  or 
selfish  man,  he  would  not  certainly  have  thought  on 
bringing  another  to  supplant  him  or  be  his  rival.  But 
how  far  removed  he  was  from  any  such  feeling !  With 
simple-hearted  joy,  we  read  that,  "  when  he  saw  the 
grace  of  God"  displayed  in  the  conversion  of  so  many, 
"he  was  glad!"  From  that  moment,  he  meekly  takes 
the  second  place  in  the  sacred  narrative,  saying,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Baptist,  regarding  a  Greater  than  Saul, 
"  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease."  He  had 
but  one  thought,  and  that  was,  the  promotion  of  his 
Lord's  cause  and  glory;  for  this  he  willingly  sacrificed 
self.  His  was  the  contented  but  beautiful  feeling  of 
Jonathan  of  old,  when  he  said  to  David,  "  Thou  shalt 
be  king,  and  I  shall  be  next  to  thee."  * 

We  cannot  tell  whether  this  was  Saul's  first  visit  to 
a  city  with  which  he  was  afterwards  so  well  acquainted. 
If  it  were  so,  his  eye  must  have  gazed  with  delight  on 
its  vastness  and  magnificence — its  towers  and  temples, 
Roman  villas  and  gardens,  baths  and  theatres.  You 
will  be  able  to  form  some  idea  of  Antioch  from  the 
picture  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  The  town 
itself  was  nearly  five  miles  long,  and  lay  on  the  north- 

*  1  Sam.  xxiii.  17. 
G 


08  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

era  slope  of  the  rocky  Mount  Silphius.  Walls  of  enor- 
mous height  and  thickness  (fifty  feet  high,  and  fifteen 
wide)  extended  round  about  it — spanning,  in  many 
places,  the  deep  ravines  of  the  mountain — and  the 
ruins  of  which  remain  to  the  present  day  miracles  of 
art  and  labour.  A  remarkable  island  was  formed  in 
the  centre  of  the  city,  on  which  stood  the  palace  of  the 
Seleucida3,  with  a  bridge  connecting  it  with  the  north- 
ern portion.  The  crags  of  Mount  Silphius  were  all  of 
them  bold  and  rugged.  One  remarkable  column  of 
rock  overhung  the  town,  which  the  art  of  the  Greeks 
had  formed  into  an  immense  head,  with  a  crown  upon 
it,  and  which  they  called  "  the  Head  of  Charon."  If 
Saul  could  not  see,  from  the  road  he  travelled,  the 
celebrated  temple  itself,  he  must  have  seen  the  vast 
groves  of  laurels,  myrtles,  and  cypresses,  which  begirt 
for  ten  miles  the  great  shrine  at  Daphne,  erected  in 
honour  of  Apollo  and  Diana.  In  the  midst  of  these 
thickets,  a  thousand  streams  leapt  from  the  neighbour- 
ing hills,  and  refreshed  the  sultry  air.  Antioch  was 
well  entitled  to  the  name  which  for  a  long  period  it  bore, 
"  the  Queen  of  the  East." 

We  may  imagine  the  two  brothers  in  the  Lord  now 
entering  the  town.  They  have  perhaps  reached  the 
spacious  colonnade  in  the  long  centre  street,  which  was 
erected,  at  enormous  cost,  by  Herod  the  Great,  and 
where  the  citizens  could  assemble  for  business  or  plea- 
sure, and  be  protected  either  from  rain  or  heat.  What 
a  strange  and  motley  crowd  would  greet  their  view ! 
— Roman  soldiers — servants  from  th3  prefect's  palace — 
gay  and  pleasure-seeking  Greeks — the  keen  dark  eye 
of  their  brethren  according  to  the  flesh  ;  the  latter  not 
arrayed  in  the  poor  garb  they  were  often  found  in,  in 


THE  MISSIONARY.  99 

other  cities,  but  bearing  the  evidences  of  wealth  and 
prosperity,  and  worshipping  the  God  of  their  fathers  in 
handsome  synagogues.*  But  there  were  other  glories 
which  gladdened  them  more.  The  cause  nearest  and 
dearest  to  their  hearts  was  fast  spreading  in  Antioch. 
The  sect  of  disciples  now  began  to  assume  the  form  of 
a  Church,  and,  in  the  year  44,  Jews  and  Gentiles  who 
believed  in  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  Saviour  of  the 
world,  had  a  new  title  given  to  them,  which  they 
retain  to  this  day,  from  the  Greek  word  Christos  ("  an- 
ointed," or  "  the  Messiah"), — "  the  disciples  were  called 
Christians  first  at  Antioch.'" 

A  writer  of  the  sixth  century — himself  a  native  of 
the  city — mentions  the  very  spot  where  the  two 
apostles  first  engaged  in  their  work  of  preaching  the 
Gospel.  Its  situation  reminds  us  of  St  Paul,  at  a 
future  period  of  his  ministry,  when  he  stood  on  Mars 
Hill,  close  to  the  Athenian  temples.  At  Antioch  they 
also  took  their  position  near  to  the  Pantheon,  in  a  street 
called  "  Singon,"  close  to  the  busiest  thoroughfare.t 

Little  did  Saul  think  of  the  wonderful  change  which 
the  power  of  God  would  produce  in  a  few  years  in  that 
Pagan  city.  Heathen  temples  were  to  give  way  to 
Christian  churches — hymns  to  the  praise  of  Jesus  were 
to  be  heard  in  every  street.  In  the  age  of  Chrysostom, 
we  find  the  Christians  numbering  100,000,  and  sup- 
porting no  less  than  3000  poor,  besides  relieving  many 
more !  Antioch  became,  for  many  hundred  years,  the 
capital  of  Christendom,  and  was  called  by  the  name  of 
Theopolis,  a  Greek  word  which  means  "  the  City  of  God." 
These  facts  will  explain  to  our  readers  why  we  have 

*  Lewin. 

f  Malela,  quoted  by  Lewin,  p.  115. 


100  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  TAUL. 

dwelt  more  minutely  than  we  should  otherwise  have 
done,  in  giving  an  account  of  this  interesting  place.* 

An  event  in  the  meantime  occurred,  which  required 
the  two  Christian  ministers  to  leave  Antioch  for  a 
little.  Owing  to  a  predicted  failure  in  the  harvest,  in 
all  the  surrounding  countries,  and  especially  in  Judea, 
thousands  of  the  poor  were  about  to  endure  famine. 
The  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  from  their  poverty,  were 
likely  to  be  among  the  greatest  of  the  sufferers.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  sent  some  "  prophets,"  and  among 
them  one  Agabus,  to  Antioch,  to  acquaint  their  fellow- 
Christians  of  their  coming  wants,  and  request  from 
them  what  relief  they  were  able  to  afford.  The  Gentile 
believers  of  the  city  met.  They  resolved  to  do  what 
they  could  to  help  their  starving  friends  at  a  distance  ; 
and,  having  collected  some  money,  they  appointed  Saul 
ana  Barnabas  to  go  with  it,  and  give  it  to  the  elders  at 
Jerusalem.  God  thus  overruled  this  calamity  in  the 
world  of  nature  to  bring  out  the  spiritual  graces  of  His 
people,  so  that  Jews  and  heathen  might  be  .brought  to 
say  of  the  Nazarenes  they  hated,  "  See  how  these 
Christians  love  one  another!" 

Josephus,  in  his  history,  confirms  the  account  given 
in  the  sacred  narrative  regarding  the  famine.  Among 
other  things,  he  relates  that  Helena,  the  Queen  of 
Adiabene  (a  country  not  far  from  Antioch),  having 
become  a  convert  to  the  Jewish  religion,  had  taken  up 
her  abode  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  in  order  to  be  near 
the  temple.     When  the  famine  broke  out,  she  sent  her 

*  Lewin,  Conybeare  and  Howson,  Neancler,  Bible  Cydopadio,,  &c. — Autiocb  is 
nnw  a  small  town.  It  has  been  six  times  the  scene  of  fearful  earthquakes. 
Tnat  of  a.d.  526  is  said  to  have  destroyed  250,000  individuals,  haviug  hap- 
pened on  occasion  of  a  festival.  In  126S  it  was  laid  in  ruins  by  a  Sultan  of 
Egypt.  In  1822  another  earthquake  occurred,  which  destroyed  4000  or 
5000. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  101 

servants  to  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  to  procure  a  large 
quantity  of  corn;  others  she  sent  to  the  island  of 
Cyprus  for  a  store  of  dried  figs, — distributing  these 
among  the  starving  Jews.  Her  son,  the  reigning  King 
of  Adiabene,  followed  her  charitable  example,  and  for- 
warded large  sums  of  money  to  Palestine. 

When  the  two  holy  apostles,  Saul  and  Barnabas, 
arrived  in  Jerusalem,  there  were  other  events  which  had 
made  their  poor  Christian  friends  very  sad  and  sorrow- 
ful. Herod  (the  grandson  of  the  king  who  had  mur- 
dered the  little  children  in  Bethlehem  at  the  time  of 
the  Saviour's  birth)  was  still  reigning  Sovereign  of 
Judea,  under  Claudius  Caesar.  Though  he  was  a  wicked 
man,  and  indulged  in  many  vices,  he  had  always  been 
a  strict  observer  of  the  Jewish  law,  and  therefore  very 
much  hated  the  new  sect  of  Christians.  After  eight 
years'  freedom  from  persecution,  the  dreaded  flames  once 
more  burst  out.  James,  one  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
he  had  "  slain  with  the  sword."  He  had  put  Peter,  at 
the  time  of  the  Passover,  in  prison — set  sixteen  soldiers 
to  guard  him,  and  bound  him  with  two  chains — resolv- 
ing, in  a  short  time,  to  bring  him  forth,  and  have  him 
killed  also.  What  human  power  can  save  him?  This 
apostle  must  have  concluded  that  the  hour  of  his 
martyr-death,  of  which  Jesus  had  forewarned  him,  had 
arrived,  when  he  was  to  "stretch  out  his  hands"  like 
his  Lord  upon  the  cross.*  But  God  has  work  for  him 
to  do  before  he  receives  his  crown.  The  infant  Church 
could  yet  ill  spare  him.  No  bolts  or  bars  can  stop  the 
power  of  prayer.  A  prayer-meeting  was  held  in  a 
lowly  dwelling  in  Jerusalem.  God  heard  the  voice  of 
his  servants.    He  sent  his  angel  to  open  the  prison  doors 

*  John  xxi.  18-22, 


102  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

and  let  the  apostle  free ;  while  the  king  who  put  him 
there  was  brought  to  a  sudden  and  fearful  end.  In  the 
same  city  where  Cornelius  the  Christian  Roman  dwelt, 
there  was,  as  we  have  already  told  you,  a  large  theatre, 
erected  by  the  elder  Herod.  One  day  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  month  of  August,  this  building  was  crowded 
with  people.  The  cause  of  the  immense  assemblage  is 
to  us  an  interesting  one.  The  Emperor  Claudius  had 
gone  to  join  his  armies  in  Great  Britain,  and  remained 
there  for  sixteen  days.  During  this  time,  he  obtained 
several  victories,  and  took,  among  others,  the  city  of 
Colchester,  which  was  then,  what  London  is  now,  the 
capital  of  the  empire.  On  returning  to  Rome,  there 
was  universal  rejoicing;  he  was  called  " Brittanicus," 
after  our  island ;  he  had  a  naval  crown  put  above  his 
palace ;  and  an  annual  celebration  of  the  event  was 
instituted  at  Rome,  consisting  of  the  usual  barbarous 
sport  of  fighting  wild  beasts,  with  war-dances  and 
chariot-racing.  Herod  Agrippa,  who  was  both  much 
indebted  to  Claudius,  and  desirous  of  retaining  his 
favour,  resolved  to  keep  the  festival  also  in  imposing 
splendour  in  the  theatre  at  Cesarea.  The  stone  seats, 
which  rose  one  above  another,  were  a  moving  mass  of 
human  beings.  On  the  second  morning  all  faces  were 
turned  towards  a  private  portico,  through  which  in 
great  pomp  Herod  entered,  clad  in  sparkling  robes  of 
silver.  He  took  his  seat  on  a  purple  throne.  When 
the  people  saw  him,  they  shouted  and  cried,  "  Behold 
a  god ! "  adding,  according  to  Josephus,  "  Be  thou 
merciful  unto  us ;  for  although  we  have  hitherto  re- 
verenced thee  only  as  a  king,  yet  shall  we  henceforth 
own  thee  as  superior  to  mortals."  The  same  writer, 
in  his  account  of  it,  also  relates  that  at  that  moment 


THE  MISSIONARY.  103 

the  unhappy  being  they  were  thus  foolishly  worship- 
ping  looked  up    and    saw   an   owl  (a  bird   of   "  evil 
omen,"  that  is  to  say,  supposed  by  the  superstitious 
heathen  to  bespeak  calamity)  perched  on  a  rope  above 
his  head.      He   was  immediately   filled   with   dread.* 
The  great  God  of  heaven,  who  will  not  give  his  glory  to 
another,  made  him  to  be  "  eaten  of  worms  !"     He  was 
carried  away  to  his  palace  in  the  agonies  of  a  dreadful 
death.     Josephus  adds,  that  the  assembled  multitudes 
fled  from  the  theatre,  and,  as  was  the  custom  with  the 
Jews,  rent  their  clothes  and  sat  in  ashes,  making  a 
great  lamentation—"  And  the  king  being  laid  in  a  high 
chamber,  and  looking  down  on  the  people  prostrate  on 
the  ground,  could  not  himself  forbear  weeping.     And 
having  continued  in  agony  for  five  days,  ....  he  de- 
parted this  life."     Think  of  holy  Stephen's- end,  with 
angels  his  spectators  !     Think  of  this !     What  a  com- 
ment on  the  words  of  the  Psalmist!—"  I  have  seen  the 
wicked  great  in  power  and  spreading  himself  like  a 
green  bay  tree :  yet  he  passed  away,  and  lo  !  he  was  not; 
yea,  I  sought  him,  but  he  could  not  be  found.  Mark  the 
perfect  man,  and  behold  the  upright :  for  the  end  of  that 
man  is  peace."  t 

We  cannot  tell  what  time  Saul  and  Barnabas  waited 
in  Jerusalem ;  probably  not  long.  They  would  give 
the  money  they  had  collected  for  the  impending 
famine,  and  make  the  minds  of  the  Christians  there 
glad  and  joyful,  by  telling  them  of  all  that  the  Lord 
was  doing  at  Antioch.  When  they  prepared  to  return, 
they  did  not  go  alone,  but  took  with  them  the  nephew 
of  Barnabas, 

We  have  just  spoken  of  a  prayer-meeting  of  dis- 

*  Josephus,  b.  xix.,  chap.  viii.  t  Psalm  xxxvii.  35-37. 


104  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

ciples,  in  a  house  at  Jerusalem,  for  the  cleliveranco  of 
Peter.  It  was  the  house  of  Mary,  sister  to  Barnabas, 
and  mother  of  "  John,  whose  surname  was  Mark" *  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  one  of  those  present  at  this 
prayer-meeting,  who  had  the  joy  of  welcoming  back 
the  imprisoned  apostle,  was  Saul  of  Tarsus ;  that 
there  he  may  have  formed  his  acquaintance  with  the 
nephew  of  his  companion,  who  was  to  be  a  future 
son  and  fellow-labourer  in  the  faith.  We  shall  have 
occasion  more  than  once  to  mention  the  name  of 
Mark ;  and  though  at  one  time,  as  we  shall  find,  there 
was  an  unhappy  difference  between  him  and  the  great 
apostle,  it  is  interesting  to  read  among  the  very  last 
sentences  which  Paul,  when  he  became  "the  aged," 
wrote, — "  Take  Mark,"  said  he  to  Timothy,  "  and  bring 
him  with  thee,  for  he  is  profitable  to  me  in  the  ministry"-^ 

After  this  short  visit  to  Jerusalem,  Saul's  history 
becomes  more,  than  it  has  been  yet,  a  history  of 
preaching  among  the  Gentiles.  We  shall  enter,  at  this 
point,  on  the  first  of  those  great  missionary  tours, 
with  their  labours  and  perils,  their  joys  and  sorrows, 
which  only  closed  when  he  could  say,  "  I  have  fought 
a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course."  That 
noble  missionary  river,  whose  streams  are  now  fer- 
tilising the  world,  had  its  little  fountain-head  in 
Antioch. 

One  day,  in  some  house  or  church  in  that  great  city, 
all  the  Christians  were  assembled  together.  They  had 
met  for  fasting  and  prayer.  The  names  of  the  differ- 
ent prophets  and  teachers  are  mentioned  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  13th  chapter  of  Acts.  There  was  "Sim- 
eon, who  was  also  called  Niger" — a  word  wThich  means 

*  Acts  xii.  12.  f  2  Tim.  iv.  11. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  105 

"  black,"  and  from  which  some  have  supposed  that  he 
was  a  black  African— a  negro— the  first  of  the  "  Ethio- 
pians "  who  are  yet  to  "  stretch  out  their  hands  unto 
God  f  there  was  Manaen,  the  foster-brother  of  Herod 
Antipas ;  and  Lucius,  probably  the  same  as  Luke  the 
Evangelist ;  "  Saul  and  Barnabas."     One  or  all  of  these 
had  addressed  the  assembled  disciples,  discoursing  to 
them  about  Jesus  and  his  great  salvation.     We  may 
imagine  the  assembled  worshippers  praising  God  for 
all  His  mercies,   or  perhaps   uniting  in  supplication, 
making  it  the  special  object  of  their  meeting  to  receive 
direction  as  to  their  future  labours,  when  suddenly  an 
answer  is  sent  to  their  prayers.    It  is  one  which  doubt- 
less must  in  many  ways  have  made  them  sorry ;  for  it 
calls  on  them  to  part  with  the  two  of  their  number 
they  had  most  reason  to  cleave  to  and  love.     But  to 
God's  will  they  joyfully  submit.     His  command  was, 
"  Separate  me  now  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work 
whereunto  I  have  called  them."  *     That  work  was  to 
obey  the  parting  commission  of  their  great  Lord — 
"  Go  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Another  solemn  day  was  fixed  to  meet  the  two  mis- 
sionaries, before  they  set  sail,  to  bid  them  farewell— to 
hea^  once  more  the  Gospel  message  from  their  lips,  and 
to  implore  anew  God's  blessing  and  guidance.     Per- 
haps some  of  my  readers  have  been  at  church  when 
a  missionary  was  set  apart,  and  ordained  to  go  to  some 
far  off  portion  of  the  heathen  world  to  preach  "  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ."     It  is  a  touching  and  im- 
pressive scene,  which  none  can  ever  forget — a  holy  man 
willing  to  leave  home  and  friends,  to  "  spend  and  be 

*  Acts  xiii.  2. 


106  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL, 

spent  for  Jesus."  Here  was  the  first  of  thousands  of 
such  scenes  which  have  since  taken  place — the  first 
consecration  of  three  Christian  missionaries  !  "  They 
laid  their  hands  on  them,  and  sent  them  away."*  We 
may  imagine  the  tears  in  many  eyes  which  followed 
them  down  to  the  harbour  where  the  boat  was  in  readi- 
ness to  embark ;  we  may  almost  hear  the  farewells 
that  are  spoken  as  the  vessel  or  skiff  left  the  shore. 
Little  did  the  Syrian  onlookers  understand  these  tears, 
or  know  all  the  importance  attached  to  that  departure. 
We  have  supposed,  what  is  most  likely,  that  they 
sailed  by  ship  down  the  Orontes,  with  its  vine-clad 
banks,  to  the  harbour  of  Seleucia.  Possibly,  however, 
they  saved  time  by  avoiding  the  many  windings  in  the 
river,  and  took  the  ordinary  road  which  led  across  the 
bridge  from  the  city  on  its  north  side.  In  this  case, 
they  would  enter  the  sea-town  by  what  was  called  the 
"  Gate  of  Antioch" — a  noble  archway,  on  the  south-east 
side,  supported  by  pillars  and  guarded  with  towers. 
Seleucia  was  in  those  days  a  large  port,  with  many  gal- 
lant vessels  from  all  parts  of  the  Mediterranean  riding 
in  its  harbour.  The  harbour  itself  was  a  famous  one. 
It  was  built  of  vast  stones  fastened  together  with 
cramps  of  iron  to  which  the  ships  were  moored,  and 
which,  in  the  heavy  storms  and  raging  seas  which 
broke  at  times  from  the  west,  kept  them  from  being 
dashed  to  pieces.  The  scenery  must  have  been  strik- 
ing to  such  a  mind  as  that  of  Saul,  standing,  as  we  may 
suppose  him,  with  his  two  fellow-missionaries,  either 
on  the  heights  of  the  fortress,  or  on  the  broad  pier, 
with  a  forest  of  masts  and  the  din  of  commerce  all 
around.     His  eye  would  rest,  towards  the  north,  on  a 

*  Acts  xiii.  3. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  107 

bold  parapet  of  Mount  Coryphaeus,  with  its  rocky  sides 
cut  into  numerous  sepulchres  similar  to  those  in  Petra 
or  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  In  front  he  would  gaze 
upon  miles  on  miles  of  blue  sea,  whose  waters  he  was 
afterwards  to  be  familiar  with  in  calm  and  in  terrible 
storm.  In  the  far  distance,  the  dim  hazy  tops  of  the 
Cyprian  mountains  rose  into  view.  Barnabas  and  his 
relative  Mark  doubtless  loved  to  look  at  these,  for 
Cyprus  was  their  old  home ;  and  probably  this  was 
one  among  other  reasons  which  had  determined  them 
to  direct  their  pilgrim  steps  first  to  its  shores.  They 
have  now  set  sail ;  the  mountains,  which  at  first  they 
saw  at  a  great  distance,  come  nearer  and  nearer ;  their 
vessel,  under  a  fair  gale,  is  skimming  over  the  waves  ; 
and  when  they  are  lowering  its  sails,  they  find  them- 
selves, 100  miles  from  Seleucia,  entering  the  bay  and 
harbour  of  Salamis. 

Cyprus,  known  to  the  H  ebrews  by  the  name  Chctim 
or  Kittim  (from  Kittim,  the  son  of  Javan),  is,  next 
to  Sicily,  the  largest  island  in  the  Mediterranean.  The 
many  crooked  windings  and  turnings  in  its  rugged 
coast  gave  it  the  name  of  "the  Horned;"  but  so 
beautiful  and  fertile  was  it,  that  it  was  called  also  by 
the  name  of  " the  Blest"  Its  situation,  and  the  num- 
ber of  these  creeks  and  havens,  made  it  a  favourite 
place  of  resort  for  merchants  from  Egypt,  Phenicia, 
and  Asia  Minor,  There  were  large  plantations  in 
the  interior  whose  timber  was  much  valued  in  ship- 
building. In  the  cultivated  plains,  "  corn,  wine,  and 
oil "  were  produced  in  abundance,  and  its  mines  and 
rivers  contained  diamonds,  emeralds,  silver,  lead,  and 
copper.  More  valuable  and  "unsearchable  riches" 
than  these  had  already  been  brought  to  Cyprus  by  the 


10b  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Christians  who  were  scattered  abroad  on  the  death  of 
Stephen ;  but  the  efforts  of  these  earlier  missionaries 
were  confined  to  the  Jews  alone.  A  great  number  of 
Israelites  were  always  resident  in  the  island,  and  this, 
we  may  well  believe,  was  another  reason,  in  addition 
to  what  has  already  been  mentioned,  for  the  apostles 
turning  their  steps  to  its  shores.  Jesus  had  himself 
spoken  of  the  peculiar  claims  of  "the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel;"  and  Saul  and  his  two  companions 
would  doubtless  consider  that  they  best  fulfilled  their 
Lord's  will  by  seeking  first  to  bring  them  into  the  Gos- 
pel fold.  They  accordingly  began  their  labours  in  the 
Jewish  synagogues. 

After  spending  some  little  time  in  Salamis,  they 
resolve  to  cross  to  the  other  end  of  the  island  to  a 
town  called  Paphos,  now  "  Baffa," — a  distance  of  nearly 
100  miles.  This  must  have  been  a  place  of  import- 
ance, from  being  the  residence  of  the  Roman  governor. 
The  heathen  goddess,  under  whose  protection  the  island 
of  Cyprus  was  by  its  Pagan  inhabitants  supposed  to 
be,  was  Venus ;  hence  she  was  called  Cypria,  and  was 
fabled  to  have  sprung  from  the  foam  of  the  sea. 
Her  principal  temple  was  situated  close  by  Paphos,  in 
the  midst  of  delightful  groves  and  delicious  fruit- 
trees.  On  the  streets  of  this  island  town  these  faith- 
ful missionaries  stood  and  preached  the  glorious  Gos- 
pel of  the  grace  of  God. 

Saul  says,  at  a  future  time,  in  one  of  his  letters, 
"  Not  many  noble  are  called."  Here,  however,  there 
was  one, — the  first  of  the  few  "noble"  and  great  of 
this  wTorld  who  were,  through  his  agency,  to  embrace 
the  religion  of  the  despised  Jesus.  The  Roman  gover- 
nor or  deputy,  Sergius  Paulus,  is  described  as  "a  pru- 


THE  MISSIONARY.  101) 

dent  man,  who,  desired  to  hear  the  Word  of  God."  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  person  of  an  inquiring  spirit, 
an  "open-minded"  man,  as  the  word  "prudent"  means. 
He  could  get  no  comfort  in  the  heathen  religion ;  he 
found  it  could  not  meet  the  wants  of  his  soul  Mere 
curiosity  prompted,  at  a  future  time,  other  kings  and 
governors  to  hear  Saul ;  but  we  believe  it  was  from  a 
deeper  feeling  that  Sergius  desired  to  listen  to  the 
Gospel  tidings.  He  was  brought  to  believe  and  love 
the  Saviour.  Let  us  hear  what  were  the  means  em- 
ployed to  humble  this  exalted  Roman,  and  bring  him 
to  the  foot  of  the  cross.  He  had  with  him  in  his  royal 
dwelling  a  Jew  whose  name  was  Bar -Jesus,  or,  as  he 
was  called  also,  Elymas, — an  Arabian  word  which  means 
"the  wise  one"  (just  as  our  English  word  "wizard"  is 
derived  from,  or  rather  is  a  contraction  of,  "  wise  art"). 
But  professing  himself  to  be  "  wise,"  this  man  was  a 
"  fool."  He  was  one  of  those  false  deceivers  or  knaves, 
who  at  that  age  of  the  world  used  to  pretend  to  work 
miracles,  and  prophesy,  and  perform  magical  arts  in 
connexion  with  Satan.*  They  were  often  found  in  the 
houses  of  the  great,  and  in  the  palaces  of  kings. 

The  East  has  at  all  times  been  famed  as  the  region  of 
wild  dreams  and  fairy  tales,  of  magic  and  fortune- telling. 
Many  during  the  age  of  the  Apostle,  from  whom  we 
might  have  looked  for  better  things,  were  silly  enough 
to  believe  in  the  magical  arts  of  cunning  impostors, 
and  to  encourage  them  by  gifts  of  money.  It  is  sad 
to  think  how  even  some  among  the  Jewish  nation  lent 
themselves  to  this  wicked  trade.  These,  certainly,  were 
of  the  "  baser  sort,"  unworthy  to  be  called  children  of 
Abraham.     They  pretended  to  be  possessed  of  the  spi- 

*  See  Home's  Introduction,  vol.  ii.  p.  S66. 


110  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

rit  of  their  old  prophets,  and  to  have  the  gift  of  second- 
sight,  foretelling  future  events.  One  of  this  number 
was  Bar- Jesus,  who  had  now  found  his  way  to  the 
governor's  dwelling  at  Paphos.  Sergius  Paulus  had 
been  told  of  the  newly-arrived  strangers.  He  had  pro- 
bably heard  not  a  little  of  the  new  sect  called  "  Chris- 
tians," which  had  grown  up  in  Jerusalem,  and  whose 
doctrines  were  spreading  in  the  capital  of  Syria.  On 
resolving,  therefore,  to  see  and  hear  its  three  disciples, 
Elymas  did  all  he  could  to  prevent  their  getting  into 
the  governor's  presence  ;  for  as  light  has  no  fellowship 
with  darkness,  he  knew  that  if  his  master  came  to 
embrace  their  doctrines,  his  power  and  influence  at 
court  would  be  at  an  end.  All  his  arts,  however,  to 
exclude  the  apostle-missionaries  were  unsuccessful ; 
Saul  and  his  two  friends  stood  in  the  presence  of  the 
high-born  Roman.  They  "  preached  to  him  Jesus," — 
told  him  of  the  only  true  rest  for  his  troubled  soul,  and 
that  there  was  neither  happiness  nor  salvation  in  any 
other.  Bar-Jesus  evidently  writhed  under  the  apostles' 
words.  We  are  not  told  what  he  did,  or  what  he  said ; 
but  we  are  left  in  little  doubt,  from  Saul's  strong  lan- 
guage, that  the  impostor-Jew  had  been  blaspheming 
that  holy  Name  which  the  apostle  counted  dearer  than 
life.  The  noble  spirit  of  the  latter  is  roused  within 
him,  and  by  the  power  of  God  he  prepares  to  silence 
the  wicked  gainsayer  by  "  terrible  things  in  righteous- 
ness which  he  looked  not  for."  In  the  name  of  the 
same  Great  Being  who,  on  his  way  to  Damascus, 
had  deprived  him  of  sight,  "he  declared,  with  divine 
confidence,  that  the  Lord  would  punish  Elymas  with 
the  loss  of  these  organs  which  he  only  abused  by  at- 
tempting, through  his  arts  of  deception,  to  stop  the 


THE  MISSIONARY.  Ill 

progress  of  Divine  truth."*  Fixing  upon  him  a  stern 
look,  he  pronounces  the  awful  sentence,  and  the  miser- 
able man  is  sent  away  groping  in  darkness.  Sergius 
cannot  resist  the  power  of  this  miracle.  He  believes ; 
and  many  in  the  town  and  throughout  the  island  fol- 
low the  example  of  their  noble  governor.  The  mis- 
sionaries doubtless  raise  their  hearts  in  humble  grati- 
tude to  God  for  these  first-fruits  of  the  great  harvest. t 
As  this  is  the  first  miracle  wrought  by  the  apostle, 
the  question  may  occur  to  us,  What  were  the  extent 
of  Saul's  miraculous  gifts  1  Could  he  work  a  mira- 
cle at  any  time  he  pleased,  or  was  it  only  the  result 
of  some  special  power  given  him  at  particular  times  1 
Evidently  it  was  the  latter  alone.  "  He  could  strike 
Elymas  blind  because  he  was  so  directed,  but  he 
could  not  cure  Trophimus  or  Epaphroditus  when  they 
were  sick,  or  rid  himself  of  the  thorn  in  the  flesh, 
though  it  so  sorely  distressed  him.  So  Paul  had  the 
gift  of  tongues,  yet  his  knowledge  in  this  respect  was 


*  Neander. 

t  What  would  the  pilgrim-missionary  have  thought  if  he  had  read  the 
following  account  of  his  apostolic  successor,  given  by  an  English  tra- 
veller in  Cyprus  1800  years  after? — "I  entered  the  city  by  the  gate  of  Lar- 
nica,  and  was  conducted  to  the  Episcopal  palace  through  a  number  of 
narrow  lanes,  where  my  horse  was  nearly  buried  in  mud  and  filth.  The 
archbishop,  dressed  in  a  magnificent  purple  robe,  with  a  long  flowing 
beard,  and  a  silk  cap  on  his  head,  received  me  in  the  vestibule,  and  ordered 
an  apartment  to  be  prepared  for  me  in  the  palace, — a  large  and  straggling 
building  containing  upwards  of  a  hundred  chambers.  These  are  all  re- 
quired for  the  accommodation  of  the  bishops,  priests,  and  their  attend- 
ants; for  tltc  archbishop,  both  in  power  and  affluence,  is  the  second  per- 
sonage on  the  island.  ...  At  seven  o'clock,  supper  being  announced, 
he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  led  me  through  a  gallery  into  the  refectory, 
— a  long  and  dirty  hall,  where  about  thirty  priests  and  bishops  sat  down  to 
table  The  wine  and  provisions  were  excellent  and  abundant,  and  the 
bread,  which  was  white  as  snow,  and  baked  with  milk  instead  of  water 
was  the  best  I  remember  to  have  tasted." — Kinneir's  Journey  ihrowjh  Asia 
Minor,  p.  1SS. 


112  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

limited,  as  we  shall  see  at  Lystra,  where  the  Lyca- 
onian  dialect  was  unintelligible  to  him.  So  Paul  had 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  as  to  Antichrist ;  and,  when 
tossed  by  the  storm  in  Adria,  could  predict  that  not 
a  life  would  be  lost,  and  that  they  should  be  cast 
away  on  a  certain  island ;  but  when  he  parted  from 
the  Ephesian  elders,  on  his  third  circuit,  he  could 
not  foresee  that  he  should  visit  them  again."* 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  from  this  time  forward 
the  great  apostle  always  takes  the  name  of  Paul. 
Saul  is  never  used  again,  either  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  nor  does  he  use  it  himself  in  the  course  of 
his  own  epistles.  What  was  the  cause  or  meaning 
of  this  change  of  name  1  There  must  have  been  some 
reason  for  it.  We  know  it  was  a  common  thing, 
with  many  of  God's  favoured  servants,  to  have  an 
alteration  of  name  at  some  important  periods  of  their 
history.  Abram's  name  was  changed  to  Abraham; 
Simon  was  changed  to  Peter  (the  Rock).  Some  think 
that  Saul  took  the  name  of  Paul  in  honour  of  Sergius 
Paulas  becoming  a  Christian — that  just  as  Pagan 
heroes  derived  their  new  titles  from  the  cities  or  coun- 
tries they  conquered,  so  Saul  adopted  a  new  name  from 
the  first  conquest  he  had  made  by  the  "  sword  of  the 
Spirit  "  in  this  island.  But  it  is  more  likely  intended 
to  mark  his  calling  as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen  and 
Gentiles.  He  dropped  his  name  Saul,  which  was  his 
Jewish  one  ;  and  he  takes  the  title  Paul,  which  was  his 
Roman  one,  as  it  was  henceforth  not  among  the  He- 
brews, but  the  Pagan  Romans,  that  his  greatest  tri- 
umphs were  to  be  won.t  He  adopted  the  change  at 
this  particular  time,  as   God  had  granted  him  such 

*  Lewiu,  vol.  i.  p.  143.  t  Origen.    See  Calmet's  Commentary. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  113 

marked  favour  and  success  in  Cyprus, — a  place  which 
was  always  considered  very  wicked  and  sinful. 

Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  Paul  "  thanked  God  and 
took  courage."  He  prepared  to  buckle  on  his  armour 
for  new  battles  and  new  victories.  He  was  now  about, 
like  Abraham,  when  he  received  his  change  of  name, 
to  become  the  spiritual  "  father  of  many  nations." 


CHAPTER  TIL 


%\t  Statelier. 


"  Hark  the  note! 
The  natural  music  of  the  mountain  reed — 
For  here  the  patriarchal  days  are  not 
A  pastoral  fable — pipes  in  the  liberal  air, 
Mix'd  with  the  sweet  bells  of  the  wandering  herd." 

"  Once  was  I  stoned, in  journeyings  often,  in  perils  of 

waters,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  by  mine  own  countrymen, 
in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilder- 
ness."—2  Cor.  xi.  25,  26. 


fter  this  favoured  visit  to  the  lovely  island 
of  Cyprus,  we  find  Paul  and  his  two  com- 
panions once  more  on  the  Mediterranean,  sailing  north- 
wards to  the  coast  of  Pamphylia,  in  Asia  Minor.  We 
are  not  told  whether  God  had  given  them  special 
directions  to  direct  their  steps  thither,  or  whether  they 
just  took  the  first  vessel  they  found  sailing  for  another 
shore,—"  the  field"  being  « the  world,"  and  perishing 
heathen  souls  everywhere  equally  precious.  Perhaps 
the  Great  Apostle,  now  that  he  had  preached  in  large 
cities,  might  be  desirous  of  carrying  the  glad  tidings, 
with  the  hopes,  too,  of  greater  success,  into  the  less 
frequented  regions  of  Asia  Minor,— upland  districts 
similar  to  many  parts  of  North  Wales,  the  Highlands 
of  Scotland,  or  the  valleys  of  the  Alps,  where  the  in- 
habitants were  more  primitive  in  their  manners,  and 
less  corrupted  with  fashionable  vices  and  sins. 


116  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  however,  we  find  the  three  tra- 
vellers once  more  in  a  Cyprian  vessel  coming  in  view 
of  the  coast  of  Pamphylia.  On  entering,  as  is  pro- 
bable, the  mouth  of  the  Oestrus,  their  eyes  would  rest 
on  a  flat  plain,  on  either  side,  running  a  long  way  into 
the  interior,  till  it  was  hemmed  in  by  a  rampart  of 
snowy  mountains.  Paul's  thoughts  were  occupied 
with  nobler  battles  and  victories  than  those  of  earth ; 
but  it  is  not  improbable  that,  as  they  were  slowly 
steering  up  the  river,  some  of  the  crew  may  have 
pointed  out  to  him  spots  which  had  been  rendered 
famous  by  contending  armies,  narrating  tales  of  valour 
connected  with  the  names  of  Cimon,  Antiochus,  and 
Hannibal.  In  entering  the  channel  of  the  Oestrus,  he 
would  observe  the  rugged  cliffs  which  rose  perpendi- 
cularly from  the  sea  on  the  east  and  west.  If  he  had 
been  a  few  miles  further  in  a  westerly  direction,  he 
would  have  seen  the  leap  which  the  river  Catarrhactes 
(as  its  name  imports)  takes  over  the  sea-cliffs  into  the 
ocean  beneath,  and  which  must  have  been  peculiarly 
grand  after  the  heavy  rains,  or  the  sudden  melting  of 
the  mountain  snows.  * 

Pamphylia  itself  occupied  about  eighty  miles  along 
the  coast,  lying  between  Lycia  on  the  west,  and  Cilicia 
on  the  east ;  and  as  its  name,  "  a  land  of  all  tribes," 
would  lead  us  to  infer,  it  was  inhabited  by  different 
races — those  principally  of  Greek  extraction.  At  this 
time,  Pisidia  and  Lycia  formed  along  with  it  one  pro- 
vince, under  a  Roman  governor,  having  Antioch  in 
Pisidia  for  its  capital.t     They  have  sailed  seven  miles 

*  * '  The  river  Cataractes,  which  Strabo  places  between  the  cities  of  Olbia 
and  Attalia,  and  which,  he  says,  precipitates  itself  from  a  lofty  rock  with 
a  tremendous  din." — Beaufort's  Karamania,  p.  127. 

t  Lewin,  vol.  i,  p.  145. 


THE  TRAVELLER.  117 

up  the  river  we  have  just  spoken  of,  and  which  bears 
the  modern  name  of  the  Aksoo,  when  they  reach  the 
town  of  Perga.  This  city  was  beautifully  situated  in 
the  valley  through  which,  amid  precipitous  rocks, 
the  Oestrus  winds  its  way.  It  occupied  chiefly  the 
left  bank  of  the  river ;  it  had  a  wall  surrounding  it, 
with  the  usual  edifices  of  a  Greek  town — a  theatre, 
stadium,  and  temples.  As  at  Antioch  and  Paphos, 
the  great  attraction  of  the  place  was  a  temple  built  on 
a  lofty  eminence  to  Diana,  and  a  yearly  festival  held 
in  honour  of  this  heathen  goddess.  Shepherds  and 
their  flocks  are  now  found  encamping  amid  broken 
shafts  and  columns, — all  that  is  left  to  mark  the  spot 
where  Perga  stood,  and  where  Paul  and  his  friends 
lodged. 

There  was  a  trial  waiting  the  great  apostle  here 
which  he  little  expected.  John  Mark,  who  had 
till  now  accompanied  them,  got  either  timid  or  weary 
in  his  work,  and,  leaving  Paul  and  Barnabas,  he  took 
the  first  ship  that  sailed  to  the  land  of  Judea.  We 
have  no  means  of  knowing  accurately  what  induced 
the  younger  disciple  to  take  this  step,  and  desert  his 
fellow-travellers,  just  when  they  had  most  need  of  him. 
Most  probably  he  feared  the  "  perils  of  floods  (waters) 
and  perils  of  robbers," — the  dangers  and  fatigues  that 
were  so  well  known  in  connexion  with  a  journey  across 
the  Pisidian  "Alps."  He  could  not  make  up  his  mind 
to  "  endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ." 
It  must,  at  all  events,  have  been  cause  of  deep  sorrow 
and  regret  to  his  older  companions.  May  we  not  con- 
clude this  to  have  been  the  reason  of  their  brief  stay 
in  Perga?  The  good  cause  may  there  have  suffered 
from  the  unkind  and  unmanly  conduct  of  Barnabas' 


118  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

yo&ng  relative.  Mark  would  doubtless  have  his  own 
sad  feelings,  when,  as  he  sailed  all  alone  on  the  mid- 
night sea,  he  thought  of  this  desertion  from  his  holy  and 
devoted  friends.  The  words  of  his  divine  Lord  and 
Master  must  have  been  sounding  loudly  and  reproach- 
ingly  in  his  ears, — "  No  man  having  put  his  hand  to 
the  plough,  arid  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of 
God."  Some  have  been  led  in  charity  to  plead,  in 
excuse  for  him,  a  commendable  desire  to  be  with  his 
aged  and  widowed  mother  in  Jerusalem ;  but  even 
this,  though  it  would  tend  to  lessen  his  blameworthi- 
ness, would  not  be  sufficient  to  justify  him ;  for,  after 
having  undertaken  his  missionary  work,  he  ought  to 
have  remembered  the  words  of  Him  who  said,  "  Who- 
soever loveth  father  and  mother  more  than  me,  is  not 
worthy  of  me."  We  have  abundant  reason  to  conclude, 
as  we  shall  by  and  by  find,  that  he  bitterly  repented 
of  the  step,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  atone  for  pre- 
sent ingratitude  and  timidity. 

The  two  elder  apostles  prepare  alone  to  resume  their 
journey.  We  have  already  seen  them  gathered  with 
their  fellow- Christians  in  Antioch  (in  Syria) ;  we  are 
now  to  accompany  them  many  miles  straight  north 
from  Perga,  to  another  Antioch  (in  Pisidia)  in  the 
centre  of  Asia  Minor.  There  are  no  gently-flowing 
rivers,  like  the  Orontes  or  Cydnus,  by  which  they  can 
approach  this  remote  spot.  Desolate  paths  and  rugged 
cliffs  must  be  climbed  and  crossed  before  they  can 
reach  the  distant  capital. 

It  has  been  supposed,  and  perhaps  correctly,  that 
the  season  of  the  year  when  the  two  pilgrims  set  out 
from  Perga,  was  about  the  end  of  spring  or  the  begin- 
ning of  summer,  when  the  heat  began  to  be  so  great  in 


THE  TRAVELLER.  119 

and  around  Perga,  that  the  inhabitants  (as  still  is  the 
custom  in  many  parts  of  India)  left  the  intolerable 
warmth  of  the  lower  plains,  and  went  up  in  companies 
or  caravans  to  the  cool  breezes  of  the  mountains.*  We 
are  all  the  more  willing  to  fix  this  to  be  the  time  of 
their  journey,  as  these  lonely  passes  were  infested  with 
thieves,  which  rendered  the  route  very  dangerous  to 
single  or  unprotected  travellers.  Many  a  daring  tale 
of  robber  chiefs  still  lingers  among  these  mountain 
glens ;  desperate  marauders  or  freebooters,  similar  to 
those  who  kept,  a  century  ago,  the  Scottish  Highlands 
in  a  state  of  lawlessness,  frequently  pillaged,  by  sudden 
incursions,  the  plains,  and  then  retreated  amid  their 
inaccessible  rocks  and  fastnesses.  If  even  Roman 
armies  and  Roman  valour  had  to  quail  before  these 
savage  tribes,  we  need  not  wonder  at  Paul  speaking 
afterwards  with  such  feeling  (and  evidently  with  refer- 
ence to  his  present  journey)  of  "perils  of  robbers." 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  our  two  travellers 
selected  the  period  of  the  year  for  their  journey 
when  they  would  have  that  protection  on  the  road 
which  was  so  much  needed.  Add  to  this — it  was 
hardly  possible  to  traverse  these  regions  with  comfort 
or  safety  at  any  other  season  of  the  year, — there  was 
no  travelling  during  the  severe  cold  and  drifting  snows 
of  winter,  and,  in  early  spring,  the  defiles  were  either 
choked  with  snow,  or  else  the  melting  of  it  on  the 
mountains  made  what  roads  and  bridges  there  were, 
in  many  places,  impassable. 

We  may  imagine,  then,  the  great  apostle  and  his 

*  See  the  entire  interesting  chapter  in  Howson  and  Conybeare,  where 
the  descriptions  of  modern  travellers  are  made  graphically  to  illustrate 
this  portion  of  Paul's  life. — Authorities  there  quoted. 


120  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

fellow-traveller,  staff  in  hand,  on  their  way  from  Perga 
to  the  mountains  of  Pisidia.  Their  eyes  are  no  longer 
gazing  on  the  walls  of  a  Jewish  synagogue  or  a  Roman 
palace, — the  apostle  no  longer  sits  wrapped  in  his 
warm  "cloak"  as  he  floats  over  the  "great  sea,"  but 
toiling  along  through  difficult  and  slippery  paths,  with 
huge  precipices  frowning  in  terror  over  his  head.  Now 
and  then  some  torrent,  swollen  by  the  sudden  rains, 
and  occupying  the  whole  breadth  of  the  defile,  as  it 
rushes  down,  may  remind  us  also  of  the  "perils  of 
waters"  (or  "  water-floods"),  which  he  couples  with  the 
more  terrible  one  of  the  mountain-freebooters.  Those 
of  my  readers  who  are  familiar  with  the  floodings  of 
the  rivers  and  mountain-streams  in  Scotland,  when, 
after  the  sudden  melting  of  the  snows  on  the  higher 
Grampians,  sheep,  and  trees,  and  corn-stacks,  are  often 
swept  along  in  the  furious  current,  may  form  some 
idea  of  the  nature  of  these  "  perils "  the  apostle 
speaks  of. 

The  fierce  heat  of  the  sun  is  gradually  exchanged 
for  the  cooling  breeze  of  the  uplands ;  the  vine,  the 
orange,  the  pomegranate,  and,  above  all,  the  oleander, 
with  its  bright  crimson  flower,  at  that  season  must 
have  been  carpeting  the  rocks  as  they  began  their 
ascent.*  As  they  approach  the  higher  regions,  these 
gradually  disappear,  and  the  hardier  plants  and  shrubs 
of  the  mountain  take  their  place  ;  at  last  they  come  to 
mark  only  a  few  flowers  shivering  in  the  snow,  and 
are  glad  to  take  refuge  now  and  then  in  some  shep- 
herd's cave  or  grotto,  or  beneath  the  shade  of  pines, 
to  screen  them  from  the  cutting  winds.  Any  travel- 
lers that  might  have  accompanied  them  thus  far,  are 

*  Spi-att  and  Forbes'  Lycia,  as  quoted  by  Howson. 


THE  TRAVELLER.  121 

now  left  behind,  and  they  pursue  their  journey  alone 
across  a  flat  table-land  of  dull  and  dead  scenery.  They 
have  bid,  for  the  present,  at  least,  farewell  both  to  the 
riches  of  the  plain  and  the  stern  grandeur  of  the 
mountains,  and  are  traversing  a  vast  flat  wilderness 
full  of  lakes  and  morasses,  where  storks  and  wild 
swans  are  raising  their  necks  among  the  reeds  and 
rushes.*  Shepherds'  huts  and  folds  are  studded  here 
and  there,  at  which  fires  are  kept  blazing  at  night  to 
scare  away  the  wild  animals ;  and  the  apostle  doubt- 
less sees  also  occasionally  encampments  formed  of  the 
well-known  "goats '-hair  tents,"  reminding  him  of  his 
Tarsus  days  and  childhood  happiness. t  In  the  far 
distance  a  few  scattered  specks  begin  to  appear ;  and, 
after  an  hour  or  two  of  further  journey,  they  are  glad 
to  find  their  weary  limbs  reclining  in  some  humble 
dwelling  in  the  capital  of  Pisidia. 

The  Pisidian  Antioch,  founded  by  Seleucus  Nica- 
nor,  stood  on  an  eminence  which  can  still  be  distin- 
guished as  the  site  of  the  old  city  from  the  numerous 
ruins  which  are  strewn  around.  Among  these  is  a 
magnificent  aqueduct  of  twenty-one  arches,  and  seve- 
ral churches  and  temples.  J 

One  Sabbath  day,  somewhere  between  the  year  of 
our  Lord  45  and  50,  we  may  fancy  ourselves  in  the 
inside  of  a  strange,  peculiar  building  in  the  city  of 
Antioch.  It  is  built  in  a  circular  form ;  seats,  rising 
one  above  another,  are  filled  with  eager  intelligent 
countenances.  In  the  centre  is  a  raised  desk  or  table 
of  wood,  where  an  individual,  with  a  flowing  beard,  is 

*  Fellow's  Asia  Minor,  p.  155,  quoted  by  Howson.     See  the  picture  at 
the  beginning  of  the  chapter. 
f  Fellow's  Asia  Minor,  p.  155. 
J  Bible  Cyclopadia,  Arundell's  Asia  Minor,  &c. 


122  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

busy  reading  from  some  ancient  scroll  he  holds  in  his 
hand ;  beside  him  is  an  interpreter,  who  translates 
what  the  other  has  been  reading  in  Hebrew  into  the 
Greek  language ;  close  by  is  an  ancient  ark  or  chest, 
where  the  roll  we  have  mentioned,  along  with  others, 
were  carefully  kept ;  other  bearded  rulers  sit  in  stone 
seats  in  front,  facing  the  people ;  and  behind  a  screen 
or  lattice  in  the  gallery,  are  a  number  of  females — the 
wives  and  daughters  of  those  assembled  worshippers." 
We  must  not  omit  to  note  two  other  figures  in  this  as- 
semblage— two  men,  strangers  in  dress,  and  yet  wearing 
the  covering  for  the  head  which  was  the  badge  of  every 
Israelite,  and,  with  features  like  others  around  them, 
are  seated  by  themselves,  and  attract  the  attention  of 
their  fellow-worshippers.  I  need  not  tell  you  what 
scene  this  is,  nor  who  these  two  strangers  are — it  is 
the  Jewish  synagogue  in  the  Pisidian  capital.  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  as  their  custom  was,  resorted  to  the 
Jews'  place  of  worship  to  seek  an  opportunity  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  their  Divine  Master. 

With  what  different  feelings  must  they,  and  the 
others  in  that  synagogue,  have  listened  to  the  follow- 
ing prayers  which  had  just  been  read  : — "  Blessed 
be  thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  the  God  of  our  fathers,  .  .  . 
who,  in  thy  love,  sendest  a  Redeemer  to  those  who  are 
descended  from  them  for  Thy  name's  sake  !  0  King, 
our  Lord  and  helper,  our  Saviour  and  our  shield ! 
Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord,  who  art  the  shield  of  Abraham!" 
"  Look,  we  beseech  Thee,  upon  our  afflictions,  .  .  .  and 
make  haste  to  redeem  us  with  a  perfect  redemption  for 
Thy  name's  sake.;  for  Thou  art  our  God,  our  King,  and 
a  strong  Redeemer.     Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord,  the  Re- 

*Philo,  ii.  4  JS. 


THE  TRAVELLER.  123 

deemer  of  Israel  /"  "  Make  the  offspring  of  David,  Thy 
servant,  speedily  to  grow  up  and  nourish,  and  let  our 
horn  be  exalted  in  Thy  salvation ;  for  we  hope  for  Thy 
salvation  every  day.  Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord,  who 
makest  the  horn  of  our  salvation  to  flourish!"  What  a 
solemn  "  Amen"  must  the  two  Christian  missionaries 
have  pronounced  over  these  answered  prayers  ! 

The  "  President"  has  just  finished  reading,  as  was 
the  custom,  the  allotted  portion  of  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets ;  he  has  carefully  rolled  back  the  parchment 
or  vellum  scroll,  and  given  it  to  the  officer  to  be  re- 
placed in  the  chest.  He  then  sends  a  messenger  to 
the  two  strangers  to  ask  them  if  they  have  any  instruc- 
tions to  give  the  audience. 

We  may  wonder  at  the  notice  thus  taken  of  these 
unknown  travellers ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been  un- 
derstood in  Jewish  synagogues,  that  whenever  any 
strangers  took  a  seat,  "  sat  down  as  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas now  did,  it  was  an  intimation  that  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  addressing  their  countrymen,  and  were 
desirous  of  doing  so."  * 

Paul  was  waiting  ready  to  obey  the  invitation.  We 
are  told  that,  upon  being  asked,  "  he  rose  and  beck- 
oned with  his  hand,"— his  usual  mode  of  imposing- 
silence  when  he  was  about  to  speak. 

His  sermon  possesses  a  peculiar  interest  in  being  the 
first  and  the  only  one  that  we  have  on  record  as  preached 
during  this  missionary  journey.  Though  in  itself  only 
an  outline  of  what  he  delivered,  we  may  feel  assured  it 
contains  a  complete  summary  of  his  address,  and  much 
of  it  in  the  very  words  he  employed.  He  secures  at  its 
commencement  their  attention  by  reminding  them  how 

*  LigMfoct, 


124  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

God  had  selected  them  to  be  His  peculiar  people — re- 
counting His  manifold  mercies  to  their  nation ;  briefly 
touching  on  various  leading  incidents  in  their  miracu- 
lous history,  till  he  comes  to  the  promise  of  Messiah 
given  to  His  servant  David,  of  whom,  according  to  the 
flesh,  Jesus  was  to  be  born.  He  then  began  to  open 
up  the  great  subject  of  his  teaching,  viz.,  that  that 
Messiah  promised  to  their  royal  ancestor  had  already 
come,  and  that  by  faith  in  Him  they  were  "justified 
from  all  things  from  which  they  could  not  be  justified 
by  the  law  of  Moses."  Neander  observes,  that  the  whole 
discourse  is  a  specimen  of  the  peculiar  wisdom  and 
skill  of  Paul  in  the  management  of  men's  dispositions. 
We  may  well  be  pardoned  for  quoting  this  memorable 
sermon  in  full.  Imagine,  then,  the  great  apostle 
standing  up  in  the  synagogue  of  this  distant  city,  and 
thus  "  preaching  to  them  '  Jesus:'  " — 

"  Men  of  Israel,  and  ye  that  fear  God,  give  audience. 
The  God  of  this  people  of  Israel  chose  our  fathers,  and 
exalted  the  people  when  they  dwelt  as  strangers  in  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  with  an  high  arm  brought  he  them 
out  of  it.  And  about  the  time  of  forty  years  suffered 
he  their  manners  in  the  wilderness.  And  when  he  had 
destroyed  seven  nations  in  the  land  of  Chanaan,  he 
divided  their  land  to  them  by  lot.  And  after  that  he 
gave  unto  them  judges  about  the  space  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years,  until  Samuel  the  prophet.  And 
afterwards  they  desired  a  king ;  and  God  gave  unto 
them  Saul  the  son  of  Cis,  a  man  of  the  tribe  of  Benja- 
min, by  the  space  of  forty  years.  And  when  he  had 
removed  him,  he  raised  up  unto  them  David  to  be  their 
king ;  to  whom  also  he  gave  testimony,  and  said,  I 
have  found  David  the  son  of  Jesse,  a  man  after  mine 


THE  TRAVELLER.  12,5 

own  heart,  which  shall  fulfil  all  my  will.  Of  this 
man's  seed  hath  God,  according  to  his  promise,  raised 
unto  Israel  a  Saviour,  Jesus  :  when  John  had  first 
preached  before  his  coming  the  baptism  of  repentance 
to  all  the  people  of  Israel.*  And  as  John  fulfilled  his 
course,  he  said,  Whom  think  ye  that  I  am?  I  am 
not  he :  but,  behold,  there  cometh  one  after  me,  whose 
shoes  of  his  feet  I  am  not  worthy  to  loose.  Men  and 
brethren,  children  of  the  stock  of  Abraham,  and  who- 
soever among  you  feareth  God,  to  you  is  the  word  of 
this  salvation  sent.  For  they  that  dwell  at  Jerusalem, 
and  their  rulers,  because  they  knew  him  not,  nor  yet 
the  voices  of  the  prophets  which  are  read  every 
sabbath-day,  they  have  fulfilled  them  in  condemning 
him.  And  though  they  found  no  cause  of  death  in 
him,  yet  desired  they  Pilate  that  he  should  be  slain. 
And  when  they  had  fulfilled  all  that  was  written  of 
him,  they  took  him  down  from  the  tree,  and  laid  him 
in  a  sepulchre.  But  God  raised  him  from  the  dead  : 
and  he  was  seen  many  days  of  them  which  came  up 
with  him  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  who  are  his  wit- 
nesses unto  the  people.  And  we  declare  unto  you 
glad  tidings,  how  that  the  promise  which  was  made 
unto  the  fathers,  God  hath  fulfilled  the  same  unto  us 
their  children,  in  that  he  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again ; 
as  it  is  also  written  in  the  second  psalm,  Thou  art  my 
Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.  And  as  concern- 
ing that  he  raised  him  up  from  the  dead,  now  no  more 
to  return  to  corruption,  he  said  on  this  wise,  I  will  give 
you  the  sure  mercies  of  David.  Wherefore  he  saith 
also  in  another  psalm,  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  thine 
Holy  One  to  see  corruption.  For  David,  after  he  had 
served  his  own  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  fell  on 


126  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

sleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers,  and  saw  cor- 
ruption :  but  he,  whom  God  raised  again,  saw  no  cor- 
ruption. Be  it  known  unto  you  therefore,  men  and 
brethren,  that  through  this  man  is  preached  unto  you 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  :  and  by  him  all  that  believe  are 
justified  from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be 
justified  by  the  law  of  Moses.  Beware  therefore,  lest 
that  come  upon  you  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  pro- 
phets ;  Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish  : 
for  I  work  a  work  in  your  days,  a  work  which  ye  shall 
in  no  wise  believe,  though  a  man  declare  it  unto  you."  * 

When  Paul  had  finished,  the  Jews  and  Gentile  pro- 
selytes t  came  crowding  around  him.  The  minds  of 
the  latter  had  been  deeply  impressed — they  had  been 
conscience-stricken,  and  the  good  seed  sown  was  ere 
long  to  manifest  its  growth  in  a  Christian  church. 
They  were  not  content  with  what  they  had  just  heard 
from  his  lips,  they  ask  the  apostle  to  return  again  on 
the  next  sabbath,  and  repeat  these  wondrous  glad-tid- 
ings of  great  joy.  He  gladly  agrees  to  do  so.  Mean- 
while, ere  he  leaves  the  synagogue,  he  entreats  them, 
with  fatherly  affection,  "  to  abide  in  the  grace  of  God." 

We  may  imagine  how  the  two  Christian  teachers 
would  be  employed  before  the  return  of  another  sab- 
bath ;  how  busily  they  would  be  engaged  in  going 
from  house  to  house,  explaining  more  fully  the 
great  salvation.  The  strange  and  startling  sermon 
which  this  Jew  of  Tarsus  had  preached  would  doubt- 
less be  the  topic  of  general  conversation  during  the 
week.    Greek  merchants  would  talk  of  it  at  their  place 


*  Acts  xiii.  16-41. 

|  Proselytes  were  those  heathens  or  Gentiles  who  had  beeu  con  veiled 
to  Judaism,  and  worshipped  the  only  living  and  true  God. 


THE  TRAVELLER.  127 

of  business — peasants,  at  the  market — Jews,  as  they 
met  in  groups  on  the  streets.  When  the  next  sabbath 
came  round,  the  fame  of  the  apostle  had  spread  far 
and  wide,  and  at  the  hour  of  service  a  dense  crowd  of 
Greeks,  Romans,  Hebrews,  and  Pisidians,  was  collected 
both  in  and  around  the  synagogue.  "  Almost  the 
whole  city  came  together  to  hear  the  word  of  God."* 
The  greater  number  of  these  worshippers  were  Gentiles. 
Their  presence  excited  the  envy  of  the  Jews,  who 
would  not,  as  on  the  former  sabbath,  listen  patiently 
to  what  Paul  had  to  say.  Filled  with  spiritual  pride, 
they  were  offended  at  the  thought  of  salvation  coming- 
in  any  other  way  but  through  their  law,  and  given  to 
any  other  but  their  nation.  They  drowned  his  voice, 
therefore,  with  their  clamour,  and  "  interrupted  him, 
contradicting  and  blaspheming."  Paul  tried  in  vain  to 
quiet  them.  He  offered  them  anew  "the  grace  of 
God,"  but  when  he  found  all  his  pleadings  were  to  no 
purpose,  he  speaks  as  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  "  mag- 
nifying his  office."  "It  was  necessary  that  the  word  of 
God  should  first  have  been  spoken  to  you  ;  but  seeing  ye 
put  it  from  you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  ever- 
lasting life,  lo  !  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles."  t  There  were, 
however,  many  sincere  converts  made  to  the  faith  of  Jesus 
as  the  result  of  these  sabbath-days'  services ;  indeed, 
we  are  told  the  word  of  God  spread  through  the  region 
round  about.  His  word  never  returns  to  Him  void. 
It  is  added  at  the  close  of  the  narrative  in  the  Acts,  that 
"  the  disciples  were  filled  with  joy  and  with  the  Holy 
Ghost."  +      ' 

But  the  apostle  was  not  allowed  to  remain  and  watch 
the  bread  he  had  thus  cast  upon  the  waters.     Some 

*  Acts  xiii.  44.  \  Acts  xiii.  46.  J  Acts  xiii.  52. 


1  28  THF  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

women  of  influence  in  the  city  prevailed  on  the  chief 
citizens  to  take  part  with  the  Jews  against  Paul.  He 
saw  that  it  would  be  needful  for  him  again,  as  at  Dam- 
ascus formerly,  to  obey  his  Lord's  command,  "  When 
they  persecute  you  in  one  city,  flee  to  another."  They 
left,  therefore,  the  gates  of  the  Pisidian  capital,  and 
"shaking  the  dust  from  their  feet,"  as  a  testimony 
against  its  unbelieving  citizens,  made  their  way  to 
Iconium. 

This  town  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Taurus, 
sixty  miles  from  Antioch,  on  the  great  highway  con- 
necting Ephesus  with  the  Syrian  Antioch.  Under  the 
modern  name  of  Konieh,  or  Cogni,  a  corruption  of  its 
ancient  one,  it  still  exists  a  Turkish  city,  but  has  few 
remains  of  its  antiquity,  saving  some  slabs,  columns, 
and  pedestals,  with  Greek  and  Roman  inscriptions. 
Iconium  rose  many  ages  after  Paul  visited  it  to  much 
greater  splendour  and  importance,  under  a  bold  race  of 
eastern  princes  or  sultans.  Here  they  had  their 
palace,  and  adorned  the  town  with  many  spacious  build- 
ings. To  this  day,  although  there  are  few  ancient 
remains,  its  walls  are  extensive,  numbering  many 
towers  and  eighty  gates.  A  traveller  already  men- 
tioned was  peculiarly  struck  with  the  imposing  appear- 
ance of  the  mosques  and  colleges.  "  Several  of  the 
gates  of  these  old  colleges,"  he  says,  "  are  of  singular 
beauty.  They  are  formed  entirely  of  marble,  adorned 
with  a  profusion  of  fretwork,  and  a  fine  entablature  in 
the  Moresco  fashion,  far  excelling  anything  of  the  kind  I 
have  seen."  *  However  altered  in  many  other  respects, 
the  natural  features  of  the  city  and  neighbourhood  must 
have  undergone  little  change  since  the  days  of  Paul, 

*  Kiuneir,  p.  2J9. 


THE  TRAVELLER.  \2(J 

The  same  gardens  and  pleasant  meadows  which  the 
modern  traveller  observed  stretching  along  the  base  of 
the  hills — the  same  mountains,  covered  with  snow  on 
all  sides  but  one,  must  have  been  seen  by  the  apostle. 
An  extensive  plain  stretches  towards  the  east,  the 
largest  in  Asia  Minor.  The  Saracens  who  conquered  the 
country  are  said  to  have  been  forcibly  reminded  by  it 
of  their  own  eastern  deserts ;  and  modern  tourists 
speak  of  their  camels  stooping  to  crop  the  same  tough 
herbage  these  animals  are  so  familiar  with  in  the  bound- 
less and  arid  plains  of  Eastern  Asia.*  It  is  not  impro- 
bable that  the  great  apostle  may  have  had  suggested 
to  his  mind  its  resemblance  to  the  plain  of  Damas- 
cus—  standing  as  both  cities  did  like  green  spots  in 
a  waste  wilderness ;  the  heights  of  Taurus,  with  its 
scantier  streams,  reminding  him  of  Hermon  and  Le- 
banon, and  the  dry  and  dusty  plain  of  Lycaonia  recall- 
ing "  the  wilderness  of  Damascus." 

Our  two  travellers  seem  to  have  remained  at  Ico- 
nium  for  some  time,  preaching  in  the  synagogue  and 
in  private  dwellings.  The  same  treatment,  however, 
awaited  them  here  as  at  Antioch.  The  envious 
Jews  stirred  up  the  people — who  threatened  to  stone 
them  ;  but,  on  being  informed  of  the  plot  against  their 
lives,  they  resolved  yet  again  to  renew  their  journey, 
and  preach  the  Gospel  in  "  other  cities." 

The  two  places  to  which  they  next  directed  their 
steps,  seem  to  differ  from  any  they  had  yet  visited. 
We  have  followed  them  hitherto  chiefly  into  the  streets 
of  great  capitals,  fall  of  wealth  and  learning.  Now  their 
route  lies  through  the  desert  and  little-travelled  region 
of  Lycaonia,  to  the  cities  of  Derbe  and  Lystra.     Here 

*  Ainsworth,  Col  Leake,  as  quoted  by  Howson. 

I 


130  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OE  ST  PAUL. 

the  inhabitants  seem  to  have  been  a  pastoral  race, 
rude,  uncultivated,  and  plunged  in  gross  paganism. 
There  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  neither  Jew  nor 
synagogue  in  either  city.  The  very  name  of  the  God 
of  Israel  was  unknown  to  them.  As  they  approached 
the  gates  of  Lystra,  they  saw  a  large  temple,  with  a 
statue  within  it,  or  before  it,  of  Jupiter,  the  king  of  the 
pagan  gods.  This  shewed  at  once  what  the  religion  of 
this  city  of  the  desert  was.  Jupiter  was  patron  or 
presiding  deity ;  the  ignorant  citizens  imagined  that 
he  watched  over  it,  and  protected  it.  Day  after  day 
these  pagans  brought  animals  to  the  temple  for  their 
priests  to  slay  to  him  in  sacrifice. 

We  have  abundant  evidence  from  pagan  writers  that 
Lycaonia  was  a  country  wholly  given  to  heathen  idol- 
atry. The  very  name  (Lycaonia)  had  a  strange  fabu- 
lous meaning,  which  it  may  be  interesting  to  note,  as 
it  bears  on  the  occurrences  we  shall  have  presently  to 
mention  in  connexion  with  the  two  apostles.  The 
word  Lycaonia  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  Greek 
word  Xvkos,  a  icolf,  and  the  story,  as  related  by  the 
Latin  poet  Ovid,  is  in  outline  as  follows  : — 

There  was  a  king  of  Arcadia,  by  name  Lycaon,  who 
was  directed  by  an  oracle  to  found  a  city  in  that  re- 
gion. Jupiter,  the  king  of  the  gods,  descended  one 
night  in  bodiry  shape  to  the  palace  of  Lycaon ;  and  the 
subjects  of  the  king,  recognising  the  deity,  wished  to 
pay  him  adoration.  -Lycaon  was  angry  ;  he  resolved  to 
shew  to  his  people  that  they  were  under  a  delusion  in 
supposing  this  inmate  of  his  house  was  really  Jupiter, 
and  he  took  the  following  method  of  proving  their  mis- 
take. Some  legates  had  been  sent  to  treat  with  him 
from  a  neighbouring  kingdom.     He  issued  the  cruel 


THE  TRAVELLER.  131 

order  to  kill  one  of  these,  and  to  serve  up  his  flesh  at 
dinner  to  the  reputed  king  of  the  gods.  The  horrible 
order  was  obeyed;  Jupiter,  in  dreadful  wrath,  over- 
turned the  table — caused  flames  to  burst  forth  in  the 
palace,  and  laid  it  in  ashes.  Meanwhile,  Lycaon  fled 
in  terror — his  speech  forsook  him — his  human  form  was 
gradually  changed  into  that  of  a  wolf,  and  he  turned 
growling  with  fury  on  the  unprotected  flocks  browsing 
on  the  fields  around.* 

Such  was  the  very  foolish  story  and  fable  currently 
believed  by  the  blinded  pagan  citizens,  whose  gates 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  now  approaching.  No 
sooner  did  the  two  apostles  arrive  in  town  than  they 
proceeded  to  sound  the  Gospel  trumpet.  It  does  not 
seem  that  in  doing  so  they  went  into  any  building  or 
house.  Probably  in  the  open  streets  or  squares,  in  the 
market  place,  or  under  some  shady  trees,  they  began 
to  preach  the  great  salvation.  We  may  imagine  the 
strange  groups  that  were  gathered  around  them, — men 
of  rude  garb  and  rougher  manners,  whose  city  was 
rarely  visited  by  learned  strangers  ;  whose  ears,  though 
doubtless  they  understood  it,  seldom  listened  to  the 
polished  tones  of  the  noble  tongue  in  which  Paul  after- 
wards spoke  to  the  philosophers  of  Athens,  and  in  which 
he  addressed  his  hearers  now.  As  the  preacher,  with 
the  stately  figure  of  Barnabas  at  his  side,t  waxed  in 
fervour  and  power,  the  thought  may  have  occurred  to 
the  Lystrian  crowd,  with  the  temple  of  their  patron 
god  in  view,  What !  can  it  be,  that  Jupiter  can  have 
come  from  his  throne  on  Olympus,  attended  with  Mer- 
cury, the  god  of  eloquence?  The  idea,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  neither  new  nor  unwelcome  to  superstitious 

*  Ovid,  Met.  lib.  1.         f  Described  so  by  Ckrysostom  and  others. 


132  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

minds,  and  an  incident  presently  occurred,  which  either 
led  to  their  delusion  or  confirmed  it. 

As  Paul  was  proceeding  with  his  discourse,  his  eye  was 
attracted  by  a  lame  man  who  lay  on  the  ground  unable 
to  walk,  but  whose  face  was  turned  with  ardent  gaze 
on  the  lips  of  the  speaker.  The  same,  we  read,  "  heard 
Paul  speak."  He  was,  doubtless,  "hearing  him  speak"  on 
the  great  theme  of  salvation  through  a  crucified  but  now 
exalted  Redeemer.  We  have  every  reason  to  conclude 
that  he  had  been  brought  to  believe  in  that  holy  name, 
by  which  the  power  of  the  servant  of  Christ  was  about 
to  perform  on  him  a  "  notable  miracle."  There  are  few 
towns,  or  even  villages,  which  have  not  some  such  help- 
less object  as  now  met  the  eye  of  Paul  at  Lystra. 
They  are  generally  well  known  from  their  infirmity ; 
and  dependent,  as  they  generally  are,  on  public  charity, 
they  take  their  station  at  any  notable  place  of  resort, 
to  be  in  the  public  eye.  Anything,  therefore,  per- 
formed on  this  poor  Lystra  cripple  in  the  shape  of  a 
cure,  would  be  sure  to  attract  attention.  Paul  saw 
that  "he  had  faith  to  be  healed."  "  Stand  upright  on 
thy  feet,"  exclaims  the  great  apostle,  in  a  strength 
mightier  than  his  own.  In  a  moment  the  limping  suf- 
ferer springs  from  the  ground,  and  walks  whole  and 
restored  before  the  gazing  crowd. 

Soon  the  tidings  of  the  wonderful  miracle  spread. 
The  town  is  in  an  uproar.  The  people  rush  away  to 
the  temple  we  have  spoken  of;  they  get  the  priest  to 
adorn  some  oxen  with  flowers  and  garlands,  and  walk- 
ing with  these  in  procession,  they  advance  towards  the 
residence  of  the  apostles.  What  can  be  the  meaning 
of  all  this!  These  deluded  heathens  verily  believe 
that  the  story  of  Lycaon  has  again  come  true, — the 


THE  TKAVELLER.  133 

king  of  gods  and  men  is  once  more  in  their  streets,  with 
his  constant  companion !  They  need  not  worship 
Jupiter  in  his  temple,  for  they  have  him  in  the  person 
of  Barnabas,  and  Mercurius  has  come  to  them  in  the 
person  of  Paul.  The  people,  in  the  fever  of  their  ex- 
citement, had  made  these  remarks  to  one  another  in 
the  old  Lycaonian  dialect,  so  that  the  apostles  were  not 
at  first  aware  what  they  had  been  purposing,  until,  to 
their  amazement,  they  beheld  the  procession  of  garland- 
crowned  oxen  close  by  their  lodging.  How  it  grieves 
and  saddens  the  heart  of  Paul  to  see  such  ignorance 
and  superstition  !  He  and  his  companion  rush  to  the 
door  of  their  dwelling — they  rend  their  clothes — they 
rebuke  the  folly  of  the  citizens,  assuring  them  that 
they  are  "  men  of  like  passions  with  themselves,"  and 
that  it  is  by  the  power  of  Jesus  alone  they  can  perform 
such  mighty  works  as  had  just  been  witnessed  in  the 
case  of  the  lame  man. 

Ye  men  of  Lystra,  "  why  do  ye  these  things  1  We 
also  are  men  of  like  passions  with  you,  and  preach  unto 
you,  that  ye  should  turn  from  these  vanities  unto  the 
living  God,  which  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  the 
sea,  and  all  things  that  are  therein  :  who  in  times  past 
suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways.  Never- 
theless he  left  not  himself  without  witness,  in  that  he 
did  good,  and  gave  us  rain  from  heaven,  and  fruitful 
seasons,  filling  our  hearts  with  food  and  gladness."* 
The  conduct  of  the  Lystrians  affectingly  shews  us  "  how 
much  more  willingly  the  world  is  led  by  the  power  of 
Satan  than  by  the  Spirit  of  God."  The  apostles  had 
wrought  many  miracles  to  prove  the  divinity  of  their 
Lord  and  Master ;  few,  comparatively,  believed  on  Him, 

*  Acts  xiv.  15-17. 


134  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

But  here  one  single  miracle  is  enough  to  bring  these 
blinded  pagans  to  worship  and  serve  the  creature 
rather  than  the  Creator  !  They  refuse  to  believe  in  the 
divinity  of  Jesus ;  but  they  dishonour  His  holy  name 
by  desiring  to  pay  divine  honours  to  two  poor  sinful 
mortals  He  had  redeemed  with  His  blood.*  I  may 
just  add,  if  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  been  impostors,  de- 
signing men,  who  wished  to  get  for  themselves  hon- 
our or  wealth  or  dignity,  how  easily  might  they  have 
worked  on  the  credulity  and  ignorance  of  the  people 
of  Lystra !  Gold  and  silver  were  generally  stored  in 
abundance  in  pagan  temples — how  easily  might  these 
two  reputed  "gods"  have  got  access  within  the  gate 
of  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  and  demanded  the  offerings 
treasured  there !  All  their  thoughts,  however,  were 
bent  on  undeceiving  the  ignorant  minds  around  them  ; 
their  only  desire  was,  that  they  themselves  be  nothing, 
and  that  their  Great  Lord  might  be  "  all  in  all." 

But  where  do  we  find  the  apostle  next  1  We  should 
surely  at  all  events  expect  the  Lystrians  to  shew  him 
every  kindness  and  respect,  to  lodge  him  in  a  comfort- 
able home,  and  listen  with  solemn  earnestness  to  his 
preaching.  Alas,  what  a  changeable  thing  the  human 
heart  is  !  What  an  instance  have  we  before  us  of  the 
vanity  and  emptiness  of  human  applause  !  He  whom 
they  would  have  worshipped  one  hour,  is  lying  the  next 
apparently  a  lifeless  man,  covered  with  wounds  and 
bruises,  outside  their  city  wall !  Some  wicked  Jews 
had  followed  the  apostles  from  Iconium.  They  had 
made  the  citizens  of  Lystra  believe  that  they  wrought 
these  miracles  by  magic,  or  by  the  power  of  the  Evil 
One.     The  fate  of  the   martyr  Stephen  very  nearly 

•  *  Blunt,  p.  178. 


THE  TRAVELLER.  135 

becomes  Paul's  own.  They  stone  him  in  the  midst  of 
the  street.  He  is  dragged,  cut  and  bleeding,  outsido 
the  ramparts  of  the  town,  and  left  to  lie  there.  The 
few  disciples  that  loved  him  are  gathered  round  the 
dying  man  with  tears.  Doubtless  many  feared  he  was 
breathing  his  last.  Barnabas  would  have  all  the  sad 
thoughts  of  preparing  a  grave  for  his  honoured  friend 
in  this  far  off  pagan  city,  and  of  a  return  back  alone 
to  Jerusalem  with  the  terrible  tidings — "  Paul  is  dead !" 
But  the  Lord,  in  whose  hand  is  the  breath  of  every 
living  thing,  had  more  work  yet  for  his  dear  servant. 
"  Though  cast  down,  he  is  not  destroyed."  The 
Church  could  not  spare  him,  and  these  tears  are  soon 
to  be  turned  into  joy.  We  know  not  the  names  of 
those  in  that  mourning  crowd  who  were  bathing  his 
throbbing  temples,  and  staunching  his  wounds  ;  but 
we  have  good  reason  to  think  that  there  was  a  little 
boy  there,  who  never  forgot  that  scene  and  the  lessons 
it  conveyed.  It  was  one  whom  Paul  was  afterwards 
proud  to  call  "  his  own  son  in  the  faith."  Timothy 
beheld  in  that  meek  but  suffering  countenance  before 
him,  what  the  grace  of  God  could  do.  We  find  the 
great  apostle,  when  far  advanced  in  life,  reminding 
Timothy,  in  the  second  epistle  he  writes  to  him,  of  the 
persecutions  which  "he  had  fully  known"  at  Antioch, 
Iconium,  and  Lystra*  The  old  saying  was  here  again 
made  true,  that  "  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the 
seed  of  the  Church."  Timothy's  young  name  was  that 
night  added  to  "  the  glorious  company  of  the  apostles." 
Paul,  doubtless,  when  he  thought  of  the  ingratitude 
and  cruelty  of  the  Lystrians,  would  go  forth  from  them 
"weeping,"  bearing  elsewhere  the  precious. seed  they 

*  2  Timothy  iii.  10. 


136  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

had  rejected  ;  but  at  his  second  visit,  two  years  after- 
wards, he  came  "with  rejoicing"  to  bear  away  this 
precious  sheaf  with  him. 

The  apostle,  so  far  recovered  from  his  wounds,  pro- 
ceeds with  his  companion  from  Lystra  to  Derbe.  The 
route  between  these  towns,  and  indeed  their  position, 
is  only  a  matter  of  conjecture.  It  has  been  supposed 
that  the  distance  between  them  was  twenty  miles. 
They  were  separated  from  one  another  by  a  huge 
mountain  called  Karadagh  or  the  Black  Mount,  spoken 
of  by  travellers  as  remarkable  both  for  its  sombre 
colour  and  great  height,  rising  like  a  giant  in  the  midst 
of  the  boundless  plain  which,  "level  as  the  sea,"* 
stretches  from  Iconium.  It  has  its  summit  capped 
with  snow,  and  a  thousand  and  one  churches  are  said 
to  be  built  upon  its  sides.  A  recent  explorer  men- 
tions having  looked  down  from  the  top,  and  seen  its 
slopes  covered  with  these  edifices,  or  ruins  of  them.t 
Like  the  Pisidian  mountains,  the  neighbouring  range 
of  the  Taurus  was  infested  with  robbers.  The  histo- 
rian Strabo  mentions  Derbe  as  the  stronghold  of  a 
famous  freebooter  of  the  name  of  Antipater,  who  made 
this  a  central  point  for  his  daring  feats,  and  kept  the 
neighbouring  country  in  terror.:};  He  was  at  last  killed 
by  Amyntas,  King  of  Galatia.  §     To  the  city  of  Derbe, 


*  Kinneir.  t  See  Hamilton's  Asia  Minor,  Kinneir,  &c. 

%  Strabo,  xii.  1.  6,  as  referred  to  by  Lewin. 

§  Modern  travellers  in  the  same  spot  have  to  record  similar  perils  of 
robbers  with  those  Paul  experienced.  "  I  was  desirous  of  visiting  it"  (a 
place  at  the  foot  of  the  Black  Mount),  says  Kinneir,  in  1818,  "but  could 
not  prevail  upon  ar  y  person  to  accompany  me,  or  even  to  hire  me  horses, 
as  they  said  that  the  country,  in  addition  to  being  covered  with  snow, 
was  now  the  resort  of  a  band  of  Delhi  Bashees,  who  gained  a  subsistence 
by  plundering  travellers,  and  laying  the  adjacent  countries  under  contri- 
bution."— Kinneir's  Travels  in  Karamania,  p.  212. 


THE  TRAVELLER.  137 

which  we  may  note,  in  passing,  was  the  native  town  of 
Gams,  the  future  friend  and  companion  of  Paul,  the 
apostles  now  bent  their  steps.  It  was  but  a  few  hours' 
journey  from  Lystra,  and  here  they  seem  to  have  en- 
joyed a  short  season  of  quiet  after  the  stirring  scenes 
through  which  they  had  passed.  If  Paul  had  been  a 
selfish  man  or  a  coward,  or  rather,  if  love  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  had  not  burned  in  his  bosom,  he  might  have  re- 
solved from  this  place  to  go  straight  through  the  moun- 
tain passes  to  the  south-east,  and,  like  Mark,  have 
avoided  further  danger  and  peril  by  retiring  to  his  old 
home  at  Tarsus.*  But  he  was  the  servant  of  Him 
who  "pleased  not  himself;"  and  already  "he  counted 
not  his  life  dear  unto  him  that  he  might  finish  his 
course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  he  had  received  of 
the  Lord  Jesus." 

It  has,  indeed,  been  conjectured  that  the  original 
purpose  of  the  travellers  may  have  been  to  cross  into 
Cilicia,  through  the  well-known  pass  called  the  "  Cili- 
cian  Gates,"  but  that  they  were  prevented  by  the  swell- 
ing of  the  great  lake  which  lay  between  them  and  the 
mountains.  We  think  it,  however,  more  probable 
that  the  apostle,  having  already  proclaimed  the  Gospel 
in  his  native  Cilicia,  was  desirous  rather  of  returning 
by  Iconium  and  Antioch,  to  water  the  seed  which  had 
been  sown  amid  much  discouragement  and  persecution, 
and  to  strengthen  and  confirm  the  disciples  there. 

Whatever  their  motive  was,  we  know  that  they  re- 
turned by  the  same  way  they  came,  passing  through 

*  "About  twenty  hours  to  the  northward  of  Tarsus  there  is  a  remark- 
able defile  through  a  great  chain  of  moun tains,  which  are  everywhere  else 
inaccessible.  This  pass  admits  about  eight  horses  abreast,  and  has  been 
cut  through  the  rock  to.  the  depth  of  forty  feet.  The  marks  of  the  tools 
are  still  visible  in  its  sides,"— Beaufort's  Karamania,  p.  264. 


138  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Lystra,  Iconium,  and  Antiocli, — there  making  elders 
in  the  Church,  choosing  among  the  disciples  those  they 
thought  best  fitted  for  the  ministry, — telling  them  all, 
from  their  own  experience,  not  to  expect  release  from 
trial,  but  rather  "  that  through  much  tribulation  they 
must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Once  more 
they  descended  through  the  precipitous  rocky  paths 
to  Perga ;  and  after  pausing  there  for  a  brief  time, 
instead  of  sailing,  as  formerly,  down  the  Oestrus,  they 
journeyed  by  land  south-west  to  Attaleia, — a  city 
beautifully  situated  in  the  curve  of  a  sheltered  bay. 
There  they  embarked  for  the  Syrian  Antioch,  to  tell 
with  joy  that  the  name  "Christian,"  first  known  within 
its  walls,  was  now  gloried  in  within  the  palace  of  a  Ro- 
man, and  in  sight  of  the  temples  of  Diana  and  Jupiter ! 


CHAPTER  Till. 


%\t  gtlepte. 


"  On  !  champions  blest,  in  Jesus'  name, 
Short  be  your  strife — your  triumph  full, 
Till  every  heart  have  caught  your  flame, 
And,  lighten'd  of  the  world's  misrule, 
Ye  soar,  those  elder  saints  to  meet, 
Gather 'd  long  since  at  Jesus'  feet; 
No  world  of  passions  to  destroy, 
Your  prayers  and  struggles  o'er,  your  task 

All  praise  and  joy." 

"  It  surely  is  of  no  slight  importance  that  the  history  of  the  first 
age  of  Christianity  should  present  us  with  one  undoubted  instance  of 
a  character  which  unites  all  the  freedom  and  vigour  of  a  great  re- 
former with  all  the  humbleness,  and  holiness,  and  self-denial  of  a 
great  apostle."— Stanley's  Essays  on  the  Apostolic  Age,  p.  173. 


C.A   F-£7K/?/£:#  5  = 


two  travellers,  then,  are  euce  more, 
after  a  probable  absence  of  a  year  and 
a  half^  approaching  the  shores  of  Syria,  and  looking 
forward  to  a  happy  meeting  with  their  loved  disciples 
and  friends  at  Antioch.  The  above  picture  represents 
them  in  their  vessel,  under  a  bright  Eastern  moonlight, 
about  to  cast  anchor  at  the  port  of  Seleucia.  We  may 
imagine  with  what  fond  haste  they  would  complete  the 
rest  of  the  land  journey;  and,  when  the  "Christian 
city"  was  at  last  reached,  how  many  things  they  would 
have  to  tell ! — their  mercies,  their  escapes,  and,  above 
all,  their  missionary  success.  How  they  would  long, 
also,  to  hear  how  the  Gospel  had  been  flourishing  since 
they  left !  The  writer  of  the  "  Acts  "  does  not  tell  us 
the  particulars  of  the  meeting.  When  a  great  earthly 
hero  returns  from  great  exploits,  he  has  earthly 
honours  decreed  to  him.  and  receives  the  applause  of 


142  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

senates  and  kings.  Paul  and  his  brother  hero  return 
from  the  mightiest  of  victories,  but  their  reception  at 
the  Christian  capital  is  thus  briefly  and  simply  re- 
corded : — "And  when  they  had  come,  and  had  gathered 
together  the  Church,  they  rehearsed  all  that  God  had 
done  with  them,  and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of 
faith  to  the  Gentiles."* 

But  Paul  only  comes  back  to  fight  a  battle  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind.  It  is  sad  to  think  how,  even  at  this  early 
period  of  the  Church,  divisions  were  beginning  to  arise, 
not  between  Christian  and  heathen,  but  between  Chris- 
tian and  Christian.  Tares  were  beginning  to  be  sown 
among  the  wheat.  "  An  enemy  hath  done  this  ! " 
That  great  enemy  has  well  known,  in  every  age,  that 
to  disunite  believers  is  the  surest  way  to  cripple  and 
weaken  the  Church.  Moreover,  how  often  does  he 
seize  upon  the  very  time  when  a  Church  is  prospering, 
thus  to  destroy  its  peace  and  mar  its  usefulness  !  It 
was  so  now  with  that  at  Antioch.  When  its  outward 
foes  were  silenced,  he  takes  the  opportunity  of  exciting 
an  unhappy  discord  among  the  members  themselves. 
I  must  explain  to  you  shortly,  in  this  chapter,  what 
these  divisions  arose  from,  and  what  the  Apostle  Paul 
did  to  heal  them. 

I  daresay  you  are  aware  that,  at  this  moment,  when 
our  missionaries  go  to  India,  one  of  the  great  diffi- 
culties they  have  to  contend  with  is  that  of  caste. 
Some  Hindus  consider  themselves  of  a  higher  rank 
than  others,  and  will  hold  no  social  intercourse  with 
those  they  imagine  to  be  beneath  them.  They  will 
not  eat  with  them,  or  admit  them  into  their  families. 
Also,  in  slave  states,  it  is  well  known  that  those  who 

*  Howson,  vol.  i.  p.  218 ;  Acts  xiv.  27. 


THE  DELEGATE.  143 

are  either  slaves,  or  have  any  African  blood  in  them, 
are  (sad  to  think)  frequently  not  allowed  to  mingle  in 
company  with  the  rest  of  the  people,  or  to  visit  them ; 
not  even  to  occupy  the  same  cabin  in  a  steamer,  or  the 
same  seat' in  a  public  conveyance.*  They  are  looked 
upon  as  a  lower  and  inferior  race,  and  cruelly  treated, 
as  such.  It  was  with  feelings  very  similar  to  this  that 
the  Jew  of  old  regarded  the  Gentile.  The  former  was 
proud  of  his  birth  and  descent  from  Abraham,  and, 
when  he  went  into  foreign  countries,  he  refused  to 
have  any  dealings  in  private  life  with  the  Gentiles 
around  him.  They  might  meet  in  the  same  market 
and  transact  business  together,  but  their  families  had 
no  intercourse.  They  might  live  side  by  side  in  the 
same  street,  but  there  was  "  a  wall  of  partition  between 
them"  in  more  ways  than  one.  They  had,  indeed, 
higher  authority  than  their  own  for  this  rigid  exclu- 
sion. The  law  given  by  Moses,  which  commanded 
them  to  abstain  from  different  kinds  of  meat,  forbade 
them  to  eat  with  the  Gentiles.  By  doing  so,  they 
might  become  unclean,  as  the  latter  were  often  in  the 
habit  of  taking  various  sorts  of  food  which  the  Jew 
was  not  allowed  by  the  law  to  touch. 

The  question  then  was,  Are  Jewj  who  have  become 
Christians,  and  Gentiles  who  have  become  Christians, 
to  forget  their  differences,  and  to  meet  together?  or  must  they 
continue,  as  before,  separate?  Are  those  who  are  now 
baptized  into  the  same  Christian  name,  still  to  live 
apart,  and  eat  apart,  and  keep  up,  as  in  former  times, 
the  old  national  distinctions  1  Paul  found  the  whole 
Church  in  a  very  unhappy  and  divided  state  about 
this  question.     Let  us  hear  how  he  tries  to  settle  it — 

*  So  we  were  informed  by  a  friend  lately  in  the  Slave  States  in  America. 


144  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

the  prudent  and  discreet  method  he  adopts  to  bring  his 
brethren  to  a  right  mind. 

You  will  remember  what  I  have  already  told  you 
about  Peter's  vision  of  the  great  white  sheet,  contain- 
ing clean  and  unclean  animals,  which  he  was  com- 
manded to  slay  and  eat,*  and  the  great  truth  which 
God  had  by  this  means  taught  him,  viz.,  that  "  He  was 
no  respecter  of  persons,"  but  intended  now  that  the 
separating  wall  between  Jew  and  Gentile  was  to  be  for 
ever  taken  down.  When  the  news  of  Peter's  vision, 
and  his  conduct  afterwards  in  eating  with  uncircum- 
cised  Gentiles,  reached  Jerusalem,  the  Church  there 
was  much  displeased.  Peter  was  blamed  and  called 
severely  to  account ;  but  he  brought  along  with  him 
the  six  brethren  who  had  gone  with  him  from  Joppa 
to  Cesarea ;  these  declared  how  they  had,  with  their 
own  eyes,  seen  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  poured  out 
on  the  Gentiles.  Those  who  had  at  first  expressed 
themselves  unfavourably  to  "  the  apostle  of  the  uncir- 
cumcision,"  were  obliged  to  own  the  Divine  hand  in 
the  matter,  and,  indeed,  they  even  "  gave  thanks  that 
God  had  also  granted  to  the  Gentiles  repentance  unto 
life."  But,  notwithstanding  all  this  outward  show  of 
satisfaction,  many  were  still  displeased;  they  could  not 
bear  the  thought  of  losing  their  national  distinction ; 
they  remembered  that  Jesus  himself,  on  one  occasion, 
had  said,  that  He  was  "  sent  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel."  They  were  slow  to  believe  that, 
as  there  was  but  "  one  Shepherd,"  so  there  was  to 
be  but  "one  sheepfold."  Could  they  not  be  Chris- 
tians, and  yet  still  have  a  separate  Jewish  and  Gentile 
Church  1     Perhaps  these  feelings  increased  in  strength 

*  Acta  X. 


THE  DELEGATE.  145 

when  the  accounts  reached  them  of  how  Paul  and 
Barnabas  had  been  freely  mixing  with  Gentile  con- 
verts in  Crete,  Antioch,  Lystra,  and  Derbe ;  and  that 
"  He  who  had  wrought  effectually  in  Peter  to  the 
apostleship  of  the  circumcision,  the  same  had  been 
mighty  in  Paul  toward  the  Gentiles."  At  that  time 
some  Christians,  who  belonged  to  the  sect  of  the  Pha- 
risees, had  gone  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  and 
did  all  they  could  to  induce  the  Jewish  Christians  there 
to  refuse  holding  fellowship  with  Gentile  converts. 
They  taught  them  the  dangerous  doctrine,  that  un- 
less they  observed  the  Jewish  law,  they  could  not  be 
saved ;  that  Christian  baptism  would  be  of  no  avail, 
unless  accompanied  with  the  old  Jewish  rite  of  circum- 
cision. "  Except  ye  be  circumcised  after  the  manner 
of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved!"  Paul  was,  like  Moses,  a 
meek  man  of  God,  gentle  and  loving ;  but  whenever  he 
saw  the  truth  of  his  God  assailed,  like  Moses,  too,  he 
could  be  bold  as  a  lion  ;  and  at  present,  when  he  ob- 
served the  damage  these  false  teachers  were  doing, 
he  tells  us  "  he  could  not  give  place  by  subjection,  no 
not  for  an  hour."  He  discovered  at  once  the  great 
danger  that  would  arise  to  the  souls  of  the  disciples,  if 
this  doctrine  were  tolerated ;  since  whatever  was  thus 
put  upon  an  equality  with  the  one  great  sacrifice  of 
our  Lord,  whether  it  were  ceremonial  or  moral  obsei*- 
vances,  would  dim  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer's  work, 
and  render  the  cross  of  Christ  of  none  effect.*  This 
most  unfortunate  dissension  continuing  thus  so  sorely 
to  vex  and  disturb  the  minds  of  the  Gentile  converts, 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  requested  to  go  up  to  Jeru- 
salem, to  lay  the  matter  before  the  apostles  and  bre- 

*  Blunt,  p.  188. 
K 


146  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

thren  there,  and  get  their  advice.  It  is  probable  that 
Paul  gladly  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity,  that 
he  might  give  in  to  the  mother  Church  the  first  great 
missionary  report,  and  tell  how  the  Lord  had  pro- 
spered his  work  among  the  heathen.  Moreover,  he 
had  a  higher  inducement  than  his  own  wishes  in  taking 
the  journey — God  himself  had  told  him  to  go.  He 
mentions  expressly,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  that 
he  went  "by  revelation."  *" 

His  two  companions  were  well  selected.  Barnabas 
was  himself  a  Jew  and  a  Levite.  Titus,  his  other  fel- 
low-traveller, and  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more  after- 
wards, was  a  young  and  uncircumcised  Greek,  and 
therefore  a  good  sample  of  a  heathen  convert.  They 
journeyed  along  the  coast-road  through  Phenicia ;  thence 
to  Samaria.  It  would  seem  they  were  not  travelling 
among  strangers  to  the  gospel,  for  we  are  told  that,  as 
they  passed  through,  "  declaring  the  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles,  they  caused  great  joy  to  all  the  brethren." t 

We  have  the  old  scholar  of  Gamaliel,  then,  once 
more,  after  many  eventful  years,  entering  the  scene  of 
his  youth,  and  of  his  first  persecuting  fury.  He  would 
likely  pass  by  the  well-remembered  Damascus  gate, 
and  skirt  the  ridges  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 
Perhaps,  since  his  last  visit,  some  of  those  who  had 
"  sat  with  him  at  Gamaliel's  feet,"  had  been  brought 
to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  But  if  they  had,  he  had 
come  upon  the  present  occasion,  it  is  to  be  feared,  to 
dispute  with  many  of  them,  and  oppose  them.  For 
while  they  sat  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  they  wished  to  sit 
at  the  feet  of  Moses  too.  Though  they  had  taken  the 
name  of  Jesus,  they  were  not  willing  to  part  with  the 

*  Galatians  ii.  2.  t  Acts  xv.  3 


THE  DELEGATE.  147 

name  of  Pharisee,  and,  like  himself,  to  suffer  the  loss 
of  "all" 

On  reaching  Jerusalem,  the  Great  Apostle  deter- 
mined, before  meeting  the  brethren  in  public,  to  see 
Peter,  James,  and  John  in  private.  After  holding  a 
meeting  with  these  "  pillars  of  the  Church,"  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  or,  as  it  is  called  in  Church  history,  the 
First  General  Council,  was  convened.  There  seems  to 
have  been  at  first  much  "  disputing"  on  the  question. 
The  Pharisees  "  who  believed "  strongly  held  to  the 
views  already  stated.  We  have  only,  however,  four 
speeches  mentioned — those  of  Peter,  Paul,  Barnabas, 
and  James.  They  all  took  the  same  view.  Peter, 
who.  held  the  "keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  in  the 
sense  I  have  explained,  rose  first  to  address.  He  was 
heard  with  marked  attention.  He  declared  again 
what  God  had  revealed  to  him  by  means  of  the 
vision  at  Joppa — that  there  was  now  no  longer  "  any 
difference  " — that  "  the  same  Lord  over  all  was  rich  to 
all  that  call  upon  Him."  He  reminded  his  hearers  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  had  been  poured  out  upon  the  Gentile 
converts,  and  that  the  yoke  of  the  Jewish  law  was  "  a 
burden  which  neither  they  nor  their  fathers  were  able 
to  bear."  Peter's  words  made  a  deep  impression  on  his 
audience.  After  a  few  moments"  silence,  Paul  and 
Barnabas  followed.  We  may  readily  imagine  the  in- 
terest which  pervaded  the  assembly  as  the  two  "  foreign 
missionaries"  rose  to  tell  all  that  God  had  done  in 
their  behalf.  The  last  speaker  was  James  "  the  Just " 
— so  called,  the  historian  Eusebius  mentions,  on  ac- 
count of  his  eminent  virtue.  Hegesippus  (a  converted 
Jew,  who  lived  in  the  second  century)  tells  us  that  he 


148  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

led  a  life  of  great  sanctity  ;  *  and  other  traditions  fur- 
ther picture  him  as  an  old  and  venerable  man,  with  a 
bald  head  and  long  unshorn  beard,  with  his  feet  bare, 
and  wearing  a  linen  ephod,  yet  so  greatly  esteemed 
that  the  people  vied  with  each  other  to  touch  even 
the  hem  of  his  garment,  t  He  was  equally  decided 
with  the  others  in  his  opinion  that  nothing  should  be 
done  to  prevent  the  free  admission  of  the  Gentiles 
into  the  Christian  Church,  or  to  stop  a  work  which 
God  had  so  evidently  favoured,  by  continuing  to  im- 
pose the  old  ceremonial  observances.  The  glorious 
truth  was  then  finally  proclaimed,  that  there  was  to 
be  "neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  circumcision  nor  uncir- 
cumcision,  barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  or  free,  but  Christ 
was  all  and  in  all." 

The  settlement  of  this  question  was  in  every  way 
important.  For  although  Christians  have  never  sought 
since  that  time  to  unite  the  service  of  Christ  with 
obedience  to  the  old  ceremonial  law,  there  has  ever 
been  a  tendency  in  the  human  heart  to  combine  some 
good  works  of  our  own  with  the  one  great  work  of  Jesus. 
Some  would  look  to  their  virtues  and  moral  duties, 
and  mix  up  these  with  the  one  only  salvation  ;  others 
would  look  to  church  observances  and  church  forms, 
to  sacraments  and  penances,  and  mix  these  up  along 
with  the  "  one  only  way."  To  do  so  is  sadly  dishonour- 
ing to  Him  who  will  not  give  His  glory  to  another. 
The  First  Council  in  Jerusalem  gave  forth  a  decree  to 
the  whole  world,  and  to  the  Church  in  every  age,  as 
to  what  forms  a  true  Christian  in  the  sight  of  God — 

*  Biblical  Cyclopedia, 

f  See  Stanley's  Sermons  on  the  Apostolic  Age,  p.  295. 


THE  DELEGATE.  140 

"  Neither  circumcision  availeth  anything,  nor  uncircum- 
cision,  but  faith  which  worketh  by  love."  We  may  just 
further  note,  with  reference  to  this  Church  Assembly  of 
the  brethren,  that  Paul  was  publicly  acknowledged  by 
them  as  "  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles." 

One  of  the  three  "  pillars  of  the  Church"  here  men- 
tioned was  silent  in  the  Council !  It  was  "  the  Apos- 
tle of  Love,"  John,  who  leaned  on  Jesus'  bosom ;  "  who, 
beyond  any  other  of  the  sons  of  men,  had  received  the 
impression  of  the  Divine  character ;  .  .  .  .  one  simple, 
unadorned  spectacle  of  moral  and  spiritual  excellence, 
enshrined  as  if  in  its  own  heavenly  light,  irradiating 
everything  that  fell  within  its  sphere  ....  by  the 
crystal  purity  of  a  heart  and  mind  penetrated  through 
and  through  with  the  indwelling  spirit  of  Christ."*  It 
is  the  only  time  we  ever  read  of  Paul  and  he  meeting 
one  another.  They  were  very  different  in  natural  dis- 
position ;  but  they  were  one  in  intense  affection  for 
their  glorified  Master.  Though  John  made  no  speech, 
so  far  as  we  know,  in  the  Jerusalem  Assembly,  he  gave 
at  the  end  of  the  discussion  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
to  his  "  brother  Paul,"  and  cordially  joined  in  the  de- 
cision which  was  given.t  A  letter  was  drawn  up  in 
the  name  of  the  Assembly,  in  order  to  be  conveyed  by 
the  hands  of  Paul  to  the  Gentile  brethren  at  Antioch. 
It  is  short,  but  of  much  interest,  as  being  the  first 
document  of  the  kind  we  have  given  forth  by  a  Church 
court. 

It  was  the  custom,  in  these  ages  of  the  world,  when 
a  letter  of  any  importance  was  sent,  to  appoint  some 
noted  individuals  to  be  the  bearers.  This  was  done 
not  only  to  prevent  any  accident  befalling  such  com- 

*  Stanley's  Sermons,  p.  256.  f  See  Howson,  vol.  i.  p.  235. 


150  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

munications,  and  to  secure  their  safety,  but  that  these 
messengers  might  be  able  to  enter  into  any  explana- 
tions which  might  be  required.  Judas  and  Silas 
(Silvanus)  were  appointed  to  accompany  Paul,  Barna- 
bas, and  Mark  for  this  purpose. 

We  may  imagine  the  great  interest  excited  in  the 
Church  of  Antioch,  when  the  tidings  spread,  "  The 
brethren  with  envoys  have  arrived !  and  they  have  a 
pastoral  letter  with  them  from  the  assembled  apostles 
at  Jerusalem  ! "  "We  may  picture  a  crowded  church  in 
the  great  Syrian  city,  where  the  following  communica- 
tion was  read  amid  breathless  silence  : — "  The  apostles, 
and  elders,  and  brethren,  send  greeting  unto  the  bre- 
thren which  are  of  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch,  and  Syria, 
and  Cilicia  :  Forasmuch  as  we  have  heard  that  certain 
which  went  out  from  us  have  troubled  you  with  words, 
subverting  your  souls,  saying,  Ye  must  be  circumcised, 
and  keep  the  law ;  to  whom  we  gave  no  such  com- 
mandment :  it  seemed  good  unto  us,  being  assembled 
with  one  accord,  to  send  chosen  men  unto  you  with 
our  beloved  Barnabas  and  Paul  ;  men  that  have 
hazarded  their  lives  for  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  We  have  sent  therefore  Judas  and  Silas,  who 
shall  also  tell  you  the  same  things  by  mouth.  For  it 
seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  to  lay  upon 
you  no  greater  burden  than  these  necessary  things  ; 
that  ye  abstain  from  meats  offered  to  idols,  and  from 
blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  fornica- 
tion :  from  which  if  ye  keep  yourselves,  ye  shall  do 
well.  Fare  ye  well."*  Judas  and  Silas  still  further 
explained  the  scope  and  contents  of  the  letter  by  word 
of  mouth.     What   was   the  result  1     It  was   a   very 

*  Acts  xv.  23-30. 


THE  DELEGATE.  151 

happy  one ;  the  storm  -was  immediately  changed  into 
a  calm,  and  the  agitated  minds  of  the  Antioch  dis- 
ciples soothed. 

Judas,  after  spending  some  further  time  in  this  city, 
returned  to  Jerusalem.  Silas,  as  we  shall  afterwards 
find,  remained,  and  became  Paul's  companion  on  his 
second  missionary  journey,  as  Barnabas  had  been  in 
his  first. 

There  was  an  occurrence  which  took  place  at  An- 
tioch, before  setting  out  on  this  second  missionary  tour, 
which  greatly  grieved  and  troubled  Paul.  The  first 
of  those  who  had  so  decidedly  spoken  in  the  assembly 
at  Jerusalem,  about  the  necessity  of  doing  away  with 
all  distinction  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  was  the  Apostle 
Peter;  yet  he  was  himself  (on  a  visit  he  paid  to  An- 
tioch) the  first  to  act  contrary  to  his  public  declara- 
tion. On  going  there,  he  mingled  freely  with  the 
Gentile  converts,  dining  with  them  at  their  meals,  and 
sharing  with  them  their  "  Agape"  or  love-feasts.  But, 
soon  after,  when  some  of  the  Judaising  party  had  come 
down  from  Jerusalem  (who  he  knew  would  be  dis- 
pleased at  seeing  him  sitting  at  the  same  table  with 
his  Gentile  friends),  the  apostle  began  to  waver;  he 
changed  his  manner  altogether  towards  the  converted 
heathen ;  he  no  longer  ate  with  them,  nor  would  sit 
at  the  same  Lord's  table  with  them ;  he  raised,  once 
more,  the  old  wall  of  separation!  He  performed,  in 
this,  a  double  and  sinful  part.  It  was  the  same  lament- 
able weakness  which  led  him,  three  times  before,  to 
deny  his  Lord  and  Master.  Paul  was  roused  to  a  holy 
indignation  against  his  erring  brother,  and  "  withstood 
him  to  the  face  because  he  was  to  be  blamed."  It  was 
an  unworthy  fear  of  man  which  made  the  former  desert 


152  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

the  path  of  duty,  and  his  conduct  was  likely  to  produce 
much  mischief,  as  "even  Barnabas  was  carried  away 
with  his  dissimulation."*  We  cannot  wonder,  there- 
fore, that  Paul  was  obliged  to  do  what  must  have 
pained  him  much — to  "rebuke  Peter  before  all."t 
We  believe  that  sharp  as  the  rebuke  was,  it  was  given 
and  received  in  love.  Peter's  character  was  bold  and 
rash,  and  this  was  not  the  first  time  in  which  he  had 
been  a  traitor  to  truth,  and  a  coward ;  but  we  have 
reason  to  think  also  that  he  was  kind  and  forgiving — 
ready  to  "  weep  bitterly"  when  he  saw  his  faults.  This 
would  seem  to  have  been  the  case  now;  at  all  events, 
he  died  twenty  years  after,  loving  Paul,  and  speaking 
of  him  to  all  the  Churches  as  a  "beloved  brother."  J. 
We  should  have  been  sorry  to  have  wanted  this  short 
clause  in  the  end  of  one  of  his  letters — "  Our  beloved 
brother  Paul!"  We  might  have  been  apt,  otherwise, 
to  fear  that  Paul's  rebuke  had  created  a  sore  quarrel 
between  them,  which  they  had  carried  to  the  grave ; 
but  no  such  thing  :  grace  brought  about  what  nature 
might  not  have  done. 

"  It  is  pleasing,"  says  an  able  writer,  "  to  trace  the 
traditionary  confirmations  of  their  entire  unity — the 
unity  which  joins  St  Peter  to  St  Paul,  rather  than  to 
his  own  early  friend,  St  John — the  legends  which  repre- 
sent them  as  joint  rulers  of  Antioch,  Corinth,  and 
Rome — both  confined  in  the  Mamertine  dungeon — 
both  receiving  the  crown  of  martyrdom  on  the  same 
day — and,  in  all  the  early  works  of  Christian  art,  both 
ever  exhibited  side  by  side ;  the  one  with  his  inverted 
cross — the  other  '  with  the  executioner's  sword.'  "§ 

*  Gal.  ii.  13.  f  Gal.  ii.  11.  %  2  Pet.  iii.  15,  16. 

§  Stanley's  Semions  and  Essays  on  the  Apostolical  Age,  p.  101.    See  also 
Howson,  p.  243. 


THE  DELEGATE.  153 

These,  doubtless,  are  no  more  than  vague  legends 
and  traditions,  and  must  be  received  with  caution; 
but  they  are  sufficient  to  show  what  the  impression  of 
the  early  ages  of  the  Church  was  as  to  the  sacred  har- 
mony existing  between  these  two  truly  great  men — 
that  they  died  faithful  to  their  blessed  Master's  last 
bequest — "  This  is  my  commandment,  that  ye  love  one 
another." 


CHAPTER  IX. 


%\t  §«&  tvmxg. 

"  Friend  after  friend  departs — 

Who  hath  not  lost  a  friend  ] 
There  is  no  union  here  of  hearts 

That  finds  not  here  an  end. 
Were  this  frail  world  our  final  rest, 
Living  or  dying  none  were  hlest." 

"  He  exhibits  to  us,  notwithstanding  an  infirm  body  and  a  feeble 
speech,  what  a  man  can  do,  even  one  single  man,  when  his  will  is  in 
harmony  with  the  will  of  God." 


I  aul  continued  for  some  time  with 
"--Barnabas  at  Antioch,  preaching 
to  their  converts,  and  "  building 
thorn  up  in  their  most  holy  faith." 
He  would  not,  however,  allow  himself 
to  forget  his  special  work  as  a  mission- 
ary. He  thought,  with  fond  affection,  of  the  many  be- 
lievers he  had  left  behind  in  Asia  Minor,  exposed  to 
dangers  and  trials  ;  and  of  the  multitudes  elsewhere, 
still  strangers  to  a  Saviour's  name.  He  resolved,  ac- 
cordingly, along  with  his  former  companions,  to  visit 
the  churches  which  they  had  already  planted.  "  Let  us 
go  again,"  he  said  to  Barnabas,  "  and  visit  our  brethren 
in  every  city  wheve  we  have  preached  the  word  of  the 


156  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Lord,  and  see  how  they  do."*  They  would  doubtless 
take  along  with  them  the  important  circular  letter,  or 
"  decree,"  lately  issued  by  the  Council  at  Jerusalem,  in 
case  the  same  question  which  had  so  disturbed  the  be- 
lievers in  Antioch  might  be  marring  the  peace  of  con- 
verts elsewhere.  This  visitation  of  these  churches 
gives  us  the  first  specimen  of  the  tender  and  affection- 
ate love  which  Paul  bore  to  all  he  had  been  honoured 
to  call  to  the  faith  of  Jesus.  It  is  more  like  the  love 
of  a  father  to  his  children,  than  that  of  a  stranger  to 
strangers. 

There  is  a  painful  commencement,  however,  to  this 
second  missionary  tour.  We  have  spoken,  at  the  close 
of  last  chapter,  of  an  unhappy  cause  of  difference  be- 
tween Paul  and  Peter.  A  still  sadder  estrangement 
took  place  now  between  him  and  Barnabas,  showing  us 
that  the  best  of  earthly  friends,  and  the  holiest  of  mere 
human  hearts,  can  never  be  depended  on.  Barnabas 
was  desirous  that  his  nephew,  Mark,  should  go  along 
with  them.  Paul  objected  to  this.  We  can  easily 
understand  the  feelings  in  the  latter  apostle's  mind 
which  constrained  him  to  act  contrary  to  the  wishes  of 
his  brother  missionary.  Mark,  you  will  remember, 
had  already  been  tried  as  a  companion.  He  had 
grown  weary  of  the  work,  and,  on  reaching  Perga,  had 
returned  home.  The  Great  Apostle  might  be  afraid, 
and  justly  so,  lest  the  cause  of  his  Master  might  suffer 
by  the  employment  again  of  so  heartless  an  agent. 
Barnabas,  on  the  other  hand,  was  naturally  fond  of  his 
kinsman.  He  had  doubtless  received  from  him  assur- 
ances of  penitence  and  sorrow  for  his  past  conduct,  and 
a  determination  to  act  better  for  the  future.      We  can 

*  Acts  xv.  36. 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  107 

therefore  make  allowance  also  for  the  feelings  of  the 
good  uncle,  in  whose  character  we  have  seen  so  much 
to  admire.  We  are  not  called  upon  to  decide  who  was 
right  and  who  was  wrong,  in  this  painful  quarrel. 
They  must  both  have  felt  the  sad  truth  they  told  the 
Lystrians,  "  We  are  men  of  like  passions  with  you ! " 
As  Mark  did  not  disappoint  the  hopes  of  his  uncle,  we 
may  have  reason  to  regret  that  Paul  adhered  so 
strongly  to  his  determination.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
a  great  writer  remarks,  "  We  see,  on  this  occasion,  the 
severe  earnestness  of  Paul's  character,  which  gave  up, 
and  wished  others  to  give  up,  all  personal  considera- 
tions and  feelings  when  the  cause  of  God  was  con- 
cerned." *  Another  commentator  gives  the  follow- 
ing as  perhaps  the  truthful  verdict  on  the  case  : — 
"  The  attempt  of  many  to  justify  both  completely,  or, 
at  least,  Paul,  I  cannot  approve.  If  both  had  been 
perfect  men,  no  quarrel  would  have  arisen,  for  there 
must  always  be  two  to  a  quarrel.  Yea,  there  should 
have  been  no  contention,  if  even  only  one  of  them  had 
been  perfect."  t 

God,  however,  overruled  the  infirmities  of  these  two 
apostles  for  the  promotion  of  His  cause.  "He  can 
make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him."  Meanwhile, 
we  find  that  the  contention  grew  "so  sharp"  between 
them,  that  they  were  forced  to  separate  !  It  had  evi- 
dently been  their  intention  to  have  gone  over  the  very 
same  ground  which  they  had  traversed  in  their  first 
journey — together  to  revisit  and  confirm  the  churches 
they  had  already  planted.  They  agree,  on  separating, 
to  begin  at  the  two  extreme  points.  Paul  took  the 
northward  direction,  to  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor,  tak- 

*  Neander,  p.  1C9.  f  Olshausen— note  in  loco. 


158  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

ing  with  him  Silas  (one  of  the  brethren  sent  from 
Jerusalem) ;  while  Barnabas,  with  Mark,  took  the 
island  part  of  the  tour,  sailing  towards  Cyprus,  which, 
you  will  remember,  was  Barnabas'  native  country.  Of 
the  latter,  we  hear  no  more  after  this.  We  know  not 
whether  he  and  Paul  ever  met  again.  It  is  supposed 
by  some,  that  reference  is  made  to  him  by  Paul  in  2 
Cor.  viii.  18,  as  "the  brother  whose  praise  is  in  all  the 
churches  ;"  but  this  is  uncertain.  Tradition  gives  us 
an  affecting  account  of  his  death.  It  is  said  that,  when 
he  came  with  his  nephew  to  Salamis,  in  Cyprus,  he 
entered  into  the  Jewish  synagogue,  and  made  many 
converts  to  the  faith  of  Jesus — that  some  Jews  had 
followed  from  Syria,  under  the  guidance  of  Bar-jesus, 
and,  rousing  the  people  against  him,  had  cruelly  stoned 
him  to  death  ;  but  his  nephew  rescued  the  body,  and 
his  tomb  was  shown  for  centuries  after  at  Salamis. 
Paul  and  Mark  did  meet  again.  We  have  the  same 
assurance  with  regard  to  them,  as  in  the  case  of  Peter, 
that  they  came  to  speak  of  one  another  as  esteemed 
fellow-soldiers,  fighting  under  the  same  great  banner. 
Tradition  also  (although — we  deem  it  necessary  always 
to  add  the  caution — no  safe  guide  in  general)  further 
mentions  what  we  would  fondly  believe  was  the  case — 
that  Barnabas'  dying  injunction  to  his  nephew  was  to 
go  without  delay  and  rejoin  Paul.  We  love  to  think 
of  the  good  old  disciple,  who  showed  our  Apostle  so 
much  true  kindness  at  the  first,  and  especially  on  his 
flight  from  Damascus,  going  down  to  his  grave  with 
the  name  of  one  on  his  lips  he  had  long  loved  so  well ! 
Leaving  the  island-missionaries,  Barnabas  and  Mark, 
as  they  sailed  down  the  Orontes,  let  us  follow  Paul 
and  Silas  as  they  crossed  the  bridge  over  the  same 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  150 

river,  and  made  for  the  passes  of  Mount  Amanus."y' 
There  were  various  narrow  and  precipitous  gorges 
leading  across  this  lofty  range.  The  principal  of  these 
was  a  singular  defile,  called  the  "  Syrian  Gates,"  and 
which  is  known  by  the  modern  name  of  the  "Beilan 
Pass."t  On  reaching  the  other  side,  they  would  doubt- 
less visit  several  of  the  smaller  towns  of  Cilicia,  although 
the  names  are  not  given  us,  and  scatter  among  them 
the  precious  seed.  There  was  one  which  we  have  every 
reason  for  supposing  would  not  be  omitted,  and  which 
Paul  would  enter  with  very  peculiar  feelings.  It  was 
his  own  native  Tarsus — the  city  and  home  of  his  child- 
hood. Though  still  heathen — the  temples  and  statues 
of  false  gods  lining  its  streets — he  must  have  had  a 
peculiar  joy  in  knowing  that  many  had,  by  means  of 
his  preaching,  "  been  turned  from  dumb  idols  to  serve 
the  living  God."  How  it  must  have  cheered  his  heart, 
when  "  far  hence  among  the  Gentiles,"  to  think  that, 
in  his  own  birth-place,  there  were  some  who  loved  the 
Saviour,  and  who  prayed  on  his  behalf,  that  the  word 
he  preached  might  "  have  free  course  and  be  glorified  !" 
We  must  follow  him  and  his  companion  as  they  con- 
tinued their  journey  still  further  north,  across  Mount 
Taurus.  It  was  probably  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
51,  when  they  were  wending  their  way  along  the  banks 
of  the  Cydnus  on  this  mountain  journey.  J  It  is  with 
probability  supposed  that  they  crossed  through  the 
"  Cilician  Gates," — a  gorge  much  more  remarkable  than 
the  Syrian,  and  one,  too,  through  which  more  than  one 
large  army  in  ancient  and  modern   times   has  with 

*  The  reader  will  now  follow  the  crimson  line  in  the  map. 
t  Reasons  for  supposing  this  to  be  the  probable  route  of  the  apostle,  see 
Howson  and  Conybeare,  vol.  i.  p.  276. 
t  Ibid,  p   27S. 


160  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

difficulty  and  danger  passed.  Cliffs  several  hundred 
feet  high  frown  on  either  side  above  the  head  of  the 
traveller,  the  width  in  some  places  being  only  a  few 
yards.  Small  patches  of  vegetation  are  seen  here  and 
there  among  their  summits,  while  rushing  torrents 
come  tumbling  down,  often  covering  or  undermining 
the  road.  The  old  military  highway  may  itself  to 
this  day  be  traced  from  the  many  fragments  and  in- 
scriptions which  have  been  found  by  curious  travellers. 
They  have  now  reached  an  elevation  of  4000  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  begin  gradually  to  descend  among  the 
wooded  uplands  of  Lycaonia.  We  may  imagine  here 
also  the  joy  of  Paul  in  revisiting  the  old  scenes  of  his 
first  missionary  journey.  How  his  heart  must  have 
beat  as  the  well  remembered  form  of  the  "  Black 
Mount,"  with  its  snowy  summit,  rose  in  the  plain  be- 
fore him  !  He  was  approaching  at  present  in  the 
opposite  direction,  and  therefore  he  comes  to  Derbe 
first.  Interested  he  must  have  been  to  see  and  hear  all 
about  his  beloved  converts  there.  He  would  doubtless 
not  be  without  anxiety.  He  knew  well  the  deceitful- 
ness  of  the  human  heart,  and  could  not  fail  to  dread 
lest  many  of  those  who  had  promised  well  had  "  fallen 
from  grace."  There  is  no  account  given  us  of  his  re- 
ception at  Derbe  ;  we  may  easily  imagine,  however, 
what  it  would  be — the  kind-hearted  man  of  God, 
coming  once  more  into  the  midst  of  those  for  whom, 
night  and  day,  he  had  "  prayed  exceedingly,"  and  they 
with  hearts  overflowing  with  gratitude  towards  the 
honoured  minister  who  had  been  the  means  of  rescu- 
ing them  from  a  blind  superstition.  Lystra  was  the 
town  next  in  order  to  which  they  came.  You  will  not 
have  forgotten  that  it  was  here  the  citizens  wished  first 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  101 

to  worship  the  two  apostles  as  gods  ;  and  then  behaved 
so  shamefully — stoning  Paul,  and  leaving  him  as  dead. 
Lystra  was  heathen  still !  The  large  Pagan  temple 
rose  as  it  had  done  the  year  before  at  the  city  gate, 
and  the  priest  (perhaps  as  Paul  was  passing)  was  offer- 
ing animals  in  sacrifice  to  Jupiter.  There  was  one 
face  which,  among  others,  he  had  not  forgotten  since 
his  last  visit.  I  daresay  you  remember  the  youth 
who  stood  among  the  crowd  when  the  great  apostle 
lay  bleeding  from  his  wounds.  That  young  convert, 
doubtless,  never  forgot  that  night ; — the  patience,  and 
resignation,  and  forgiveness  of  the  cruelly-treated  ser- 
vant of  Jesus.  We  believe  that  none  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian converts  in  Lystra  welcomed  with  greater  joy  the 
return  of  the  great  missionary  than  this  promising- 
young  man,  whose  name  was  in  future  ages  to  be  so 
linked  with  that  of  his  spiritual  father.  As  I  have 
already  said,  he  had  been  brought  up  under  the  ten- 
der religious  training  of  his  grandmother  Lois,  and  his 
mother  Eunice.  Eunice  was  a  Jewess,  a  Christian 
convert,  and  her  husband  was  a  Greek.  We  can  picture 
to  ourselves  that  holy  Christian  home  of  the  infant 
apostle.  His  pious  mother,  and  aged  grandmother,  had, 
from  his  earliest  years,  instructed  him  in  the  know- 
ledge of  the  ancient  Scriptures.  Like  Simeon,  Anna, 
and  others,  they  had  been  waiting  in  humble  faith  for 
the  "  consolation  of  Israel " — not  unprepared  for  the 
glad  tidings  which  Paul  had  proclaimed  to  them,  that 
the  types  and  promises  of  the  Jewish  dispensation  had 
been  fulfilled  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  of  whom  "  all  the 
prophets  bear  witness."  Paul's  letters  to  Timothy  at 
a  later  time  tell  how  affectionately  he  loved  him. 
There  doubtless  must  have  been  something  very  win- 

L 


162  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

ning  aud  engaging  about  this  young  stranger,  that  could 
induce  the  apostle  at  once  to  fix  upon  him  for  so  signal 
an  honour  as  to  be  the  companion  of  his  journeys. 
Notwithstanding  their  great  difference  in  age,  notwith- 
standing Paul's  great  learning  and  accomplishments,  he 
seems  to  have  esteemed  Timothy  as  the  most  valued 
of  all  his  friends.  "  Son  Timothy,"  "  My  beloved  son," 
"  My  own  son  in  the  faith,"  "  My  work-fellow,"  "  My 
brother,"  are  expressions  which  bespeak  no  common 
affection.  Well  has  it  been  said,  "  What  mother  ever 
wrote  to  her  son  a  letter  more  full  of  solicitude  than 
the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  ?"  *  Hear  how  he  writes 
of  him  when  he  is  looking  back  on  the  manifold  friend- 
ships of  a  whole  life  :  "  I  have  no  man  likeminded,  who 
will  naturally  care  for  your  state.  .  .  Ye  know  the 
proof  of  him,  that,  as  a  son  ivith  the  father,  he  hath 
served  with  me  in  the  gospel."  t  He  had  been  con- 
verted during  Paul's  former  visit.  The  seed  then  sown 
had  ripened  in  his  heart  to  good  fruit ;  and  now,  when 
the  apostle  returned  a  second  time,  he  found  him  all 
equipped  and  ready  for  that  "  good  fight  of  faith," 
about  which  he  afterwards  discourses.  "  Him  would 
Paul  have  to  go  forth  with  him."  %  He  was  circumcised 
at  Iconium,  and  there  solemnly  ordained  and  set  apart 
for  his  great  work.  It  was  a  day  never  to  be  forgotten 
by  the  young  Lystrian.  Paul  afterwards  speaks  of  it 
in  one  of  his  letters.  "  Thou  hast  professed  a  good 
profession  before  many  witnesses."  § 

From  Iconium,  they  proceeded  to  the  cities  farther 
north,  leaving  in  each  of  these,  where  Christian  con- 
verts were,  a  copy  of  the  decree  of  the  Jerusalem 
Council.      Veiy  considerable  difficulty,  however,  has 

*  Monod.  t  Phil.  ii.  20,  22.  t  Acts  xvi.  3.  §  1  Tim.  vi.  12. 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  lGo 

been  felt  by  writers  on  the  life  of  Paul  as  to  the 
direction  of  this  journey.  The  high  road  he  and  Silas 
had  now  been  traversing  the  length  of  Antioch,  led 
on  to  Ephesus,  a  distance  of  230  miles ;  and  some 
have  supposed  they  went  by  it  the  length  of  Colosse, 
a  town  situated  half  way.  Other  writers,  of  equal 
authority,  assign  to  him  a  route  more  directly  north, 
not  supposing  that  he  visited  Colosse  afc  all.  If  you 
examine  the  map,  you  will  see  what  his  course  would 
be  if  he  and  his  fellow-travellers  followed  the  great 
highway  of  Asia  Minor ;  they  would  come  to  the  val- 
ley which  is  watered  by  the  river  Lycus,  and  on  the 
south  bank  of  which  stands  the  city  of  Colosse — a  few 
scattered  ruins  now  only  remaining  to  mark  the  spot. 
Had  they  pursued  the  same  great  road  twelve  miles 
further  along  the  valley,  they  would  have  reached  two 
other  famous  cities  fronting  each  other  on  either  side 
of  the  river.  On  the  right,  Hierapolis  rose  on  a  com- 
manding situation ;  it  crowned  the  summits  of  a  bold 
cliff,  and  had  within  its  walls  the  temple  of  Pluto  and 
its  famous  cavern.  Upon  the  opposite  bank,  on  the 
slope  of  Mount  Cadmus,  and  a  mile  from  the  river, 
stood  Laodicea,  whose  vast  ruins,  at  the  present  day, 
attest  its  former  extent  and  greatness.  We  have 
every  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  neither  of  these 
cities  were  the  apostle  and  his  companions  allowed  at 
present  to  enter;  "they  were  forbidden  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  preach  the  word  in  Asia."* 

We  can,  with  greater  certainty,  follow  them  as  they 
retrace  their  steps  north-east  to  Galatia.  This  pro- 
vince we  know  they  now  visited  ;t  and  from  the 
epistle  Paul  wrote  to  the  churches  there,  as  well  as 

*  Acts  xvi.  6.  f  Acts  xvi.  6. 


164  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

from  the  peculiar  history  of  its  people,  it  deserves 
more  from  us  than  a  passing  notice.  Much  interest- 
ing light,  moreover,  has  been  thrown  upon  the  subject 
by  recent  "writers. 

The  Galatians  (or  Gauhtmns)  were  not  the  original 
inhabitants  of  that  country;  they  were  a  colony  of 
Gauls.  Who  were  these  Gauls  ?  Gaul,  as  you  know, 
was  the  ancient  name  of  France.  Greek  historians,  in 
speaking  of  the  inhabitants  of  France,  call  them  "  Gala- 
tians." The  Gauls,  however,  seem  not  to  have  been 
confined  to  this  portion  of  Europe,  but  to  have  spread 
themselves  also  over  Spain,  Great  Britain,  and  Ireland. 
They  were  a  bold,  warlike,  and  manly  people ;  their 
name  and  invasions  indeed  became  so  terrible,  that 
the  countries  they  sought  to  people  did  what  they 
could  to  destroy  and  extirpate  them.  Those  that 
remained,  had  to  take  refuge  in  fastnesses  and  wild 
uninhabited  districts,  where  they  could  do  compara- 
tively little  harm.  In  France,  they  were  driven  into 
Brittany;  in  England,  into  Wales,  which  was  called 
from  them  Wallia,  or  Gallia,  (and  indeed  Wales  is 
called  by  Frenchmen  still,  "  the  country  of  the 
Gauls.")  In  rugged  Scotland,  they  got  a  suitable 
refuge  among  the  wild  Highland  glens  and  passes — 
hence  the  name  of  the  Highlanders  and  their  country, 
as  the  Gaels,  the  land  of  the  Gael,  or  Gaul ;  and  their 
language,  Gaelic,  or  Gaulic.  The  place,  however,  in 
the  west  of  Europe  which  they  retained  strongest  hold 
of  was  Ireland ;  they  peopled  the  whole  of  it,  with  the 
exception  of  a  portion  of  the  north-east. 

But  how  came  they,  it  may  be  asked,  to  find  their 
way  to  the  provhice  which  the  Apostle  Paul  was  now 
treading,   in  the  centre  of  Asia  Minor?      After  the 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  1G5 

death  of  Alexander  the  Great,  a  swarming  host  of 
300,000  Gauls,  like  the  Huns  and  Vandals  of  the 
middle  ages,  made  an  irruption  over  the  plains  of 
eastern  Europe,  forcing  a  passage  along  the  banks  of 
the  Danube.  We  need  not  pause  to  describe  their 
march ;  suffice  it  to  say,  the  greater  number  of  them 
met  on  the  shores  of  Asia  Minor.  Their  wild  war- 
songs  were  heard  on  the  plains  of  ancient  Troy,  and 
around  the  tomb  of  Achilles.  From  thence  they 
marched  hither  and  thither  on  a  mission  of  pillage  and 
plunder,  leaving  behind  nothing  but  the  ashes  and 
smoke  of  conquered  countries.  A  portion  of  them 
(with  which  we  are  now  principally  concerned)  had 
withdrawn  from  the  main  body,  and  were  still  in 
Europe ;  they  were  lured,  however,  at  last  across  the 
Hellespont  by  Nicomedes,  king  of  Bithynia,  who  was 
at  that  time  engaged  in  war  with  his  brother.  By 
their  means  he  obtained  a  complete  and  decisive  vic- 
tory, and,  as  a  reward  for  their  assistance  and  valour, 
granted  them  the  north-east  portion  of  Phrygia,  which 
ever  afterwards  bore  the  name  of  Galatia,  or  Gallo 
Grcecia.  Not  contented  with  this  royal  recompense, 
they  seem  to  have  inspired  great  fear  among  the  inha- 
bitants of  Mount  Taurus  by  their  warlike  incursions, 
and  to  have  exacted  tribute  from  all  around.  Their 
numbers  at  their  first  settlement,  according  to  a 
Roman  historian,  did  not  exceed  20,000,  and  the  half 
of  these  were  unarmed.  This  may  give  an  idea  of 
their  power,  and  of  the  influence  their  ferocious  name 
and  character  exercised  over  the  timid  tribes  among: 
whom  they  settled.  We  can  imagine,  from  what  is 
related  of  them,  the  terror  these  barbarians  would  in- 
spire, especially  in  the  hour  of.  battle,  with  their  wild 


166  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

native  war-whoops,  clanging  their  long  swords  or  clay- 
mores on  their  targets,  and  rushing  madly  against 
their  foes. 

For  many  centuries  this  remarkable  race  retained 
their  language  and  native  manners.  Even  when  Paul 
now  visited  them,  though  they  could  speak  the  Greek 
of  the  country,  they  never  had  forgotten  their  own 
tongue, — just  as  in  Wales,  or  in  the  Scottish  High- 
lands, that  same  tongue,  with  little  variation,  con- 
tinues to  be  spoken.  St  Paul's  epistle  to  them,  how- 
ever, was  written  in  Greek;  and  any  inscriptions  of 
the  period,  found  on  their  sculptures,  are  in  the  same 
language.  Their  independence,  as  a  people,  was,  at 
the  age  of  the  apostle,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
laid  low  under  the  iron  hand  of  imperial  Rome.  They 
had  been  suffered,  till  the  reign  of  Augustus,  to  retain 
it  nominally,  and  had  at  that  time  a  king  of  their  own, 
called  Amyntas  ;  but  a  Roman  pro-praetor  was  now  at 
the  head  of  the  province.  What  their  precise  religion 
was  when  Paul  first  found  them,  we  cannot  say.  More 
than  probably  their  ancestors  would  carry  along  with 
them  their  Druidical  superstitions ;  but  we  know  also, 
that  Jupiter  and  Cybele,  the  deities  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  were  worshipped  at  two  of  their  principal  cities. 
It  is  among  this  strange  people,  then — strange  even  in 
their  complexion  and  appearance,  with  their  tall  figures 
and  long  flowing  yellow  hair* — that  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  is  now  about  to  sojourn. 

We  are  not  informed  to  what  localities  Paul  went  in 
Galatia,  or  how  long  he  remained  there  ;  this,  however, 
(s  certain,  that  he  preached  in  many  places,  and  that  a 

*  See  the  picture,  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  of  a   "  Galatian 
hero." 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  167 

vast  blessing  attended  his  labours.  Nay,  more,  that 
warm-hearted  people  seem  to  have  received  the  "  stran- 
ger apostle"  with  great  readiness  and  cordiality,  and  he 
appears,  ever  after,  to  entertain  towards  them  feelings 
of  deepest  affection  and  love. 

If  we  have  spoken  of  France  as  the  original  country 
of  the  Gauls,  and  Ireland  as  the  land  in  western  Europe 
where  they  chiefly  abounded,  we  have,  in  the  well-known 
sprightliness  and  warm-heartedness  of  these  two  coun- 
tries at  this  day,  a  living  picture  of  the  character  the 
Apostle  Paul  had  to  deal  with  in  Galatia  1800  years 
ago.  In  other  respects,  too,  the  likeness  seems  to  hold 
good — while  warm  and  loving  in  their  natures,  they 
were  fickle,  unsteady,  excitable,  "carried  about  with 
every  wind  of  doctrine."  May  we  not  say,  in  no  un- 
kindly spirit,  that  the  charge  which  he  brings  against 
them  might,  in  a  modified  shape,  be  made  to  apply  not 
inaccurately  to  others  in  later  years,  and  nearer  our 
own  shores? — "  0  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched 
you  that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth?"  While  at 
one  time  "  they  received  the  apostle  as  if  he  had  been 
an  angel,"  "they  were  soon  removed  from  him  that 
called  them  to  another  gospel."* 

On  the  occasion  of  this  his  first  visit,  Paul  was  over- 
taken with  sickness.  None  but  those  who  have  expe- 
rienced it,  can  know  how  painful  it  is  to  be  laid,  in  the 
heart  of  a  foreign  land,  on  a  couch  of  illness ;  nor,  on 
the  other  hand,  how  grateful,  in  such  circumstances,  is 
the  kindness  of  strangers.  The  apostle  felt  deeply  the 
warm  and  affectionate  solicitude  which  the  Galatians 
manifested  towards  him  at  this  trying  hour.  They 
saw  his  body  bowed  with  intense  suffering ;  but  wheo 

*  See  Mr  Lewin's  interesting  chapter  on  Galatia. 


168  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

they  beheld  his  noble  mind  rising  superior  to  all,  and 
enabling  him  joyfully  to  bear  ail  for  the  everlasting 
good  of  others,  they  were  struck  with  a  heroism  that 
would  have  done  honour  to  their  own  bravest  and  best. 
We  may  well  believe  that  Timothy  would  not  be 
behind  in  bestowing  dutiful  attention  on  one  he  so 
loved,  while  it  would  doubtless  tend  to  draw  out  more 
than  ever  the  heart  of  the  apostle  towards  him  whom 
"he  had  begotten  in  the  Gospel." 

Connected  with  Paul's  illness  in  Galatia,  and  with 
many  references  in  his  epistle,  this  seems  the  proper 
time  to  refer  to  the  nature  of  that  bodily  infirmity  or 
ailment  under  which  he  so  often  laboured,  and  which 
he  calls  "  the  thorn  in  the  flesh."  *  What  could  this 
have  been  1  The  answering  of  this  question  may  help 
us  in  forming  our  impressions  of  his  personal  appear- 
ance, and  account  for  many  allusions  he  makes  in  his 
writings  which  could  not  otherwise  be  explained. 

From  this  bodily  malady,  whatever  it  was,  he  evi- 
dently was  suffering  during  this  his  first  visit  to  Ga- 
latia j  for,  in  his  "  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,"  which 
was  written  after  his  second  visit,  he  says — "  Ye  know 
how  through  infirmity  of  the  flesh  I  preached  the  Gos- 
pel unto  you  at  the  first "  (t.  e.,  the  former  visit).  "  And 
my  temptation  which  was  in  my  flesh  ye  despised  not, 
nor  rejected;  but  received  me  as  an  angel  of  God.  ,  .  . 
I  bear  you  record,  that,  if  it  had  been  possible,  ye  would 
have  plucked  out  your  own  eyes,  and  have  given  them  to 
me."\  These  striking  words  appear  to  afford  a  key  to 
the  nature  of  the  "  thorn  in  the  flesh,"  to  which  they, 
in  all  probability,  allude. 

We  have  the  strongest  reason,  then,  to  infer  that  it 

*  2  Cor.  xii.  7-10.  f  Gal.  iv.  13-15. 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  169 

was  a  disease  in  his  eyes,  which  greatly  injured  his  sight, 
and  at  times  his  appearance.  It  has  been  thought 
that,  ever  since  being  struck  blind  at  his  conversion, 
on  the  way  to  Damascus,  his  eyes  and  eyesight  had 
been  much  affected — just  as  if  his  Lord  had  wished  him 
to  carry  about  this  continual  remembrance,  at  once  of 
his  guilt,  and  of  the  grace  which  saved  him.  Writers 
have  specially  noted  besides  (what  was  mentioned  in  a 
former  chapter),  that  the  climate  of  Damascus  is  most 
injurious  to  the  vision ;  many  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
that  city  to  this  day  suffering  severely  from  its  per- 
nicious effects.  What  can  more  naturally  explain  the 
verse  I  have,  a  few  sentences  before,  quoted  from  his 
Galatian  epistle,  than  this  1  He  wishes  to  tell  his  con- 
verts there,  how  greatly  he  felt  their  attention  and 
affection  ;  as  if  he  had  said — "  So  great  was  your  kind- 
ness to  me,  a  poor  half-blind  stranger,  with  my  eyes 
painful  to  look  upon,  that  you  would  have  willingly 
plucked  out  your  own,  if  it  had  been  in  your  power,  and 
exchanged  them  for  mine,  if  this  could  have  cured  me 
of  my  sad  malady." 

There  are  other  similar  references  made  in  the  same 
epistle:  as  when  he  says,  at  the  close  of  it,  "From 
henceforth  let  no  man  trouble  me  :  for  I  bear  in  my 
body  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  The  word  trans- 
lated " marks"  literally  means  " brands,"  and  refers  to 
the  old  custom  of  branding  the  forehead  or  arm  with 
a  hot  iron,  more  particularly  in  the  case  of  runaway 
slaves.  A  name  or  device  was  thus  impressed  on  the 
skin  as  a  punishment,  as  well  as  to  prevent  them  in 
future  deserting  their  masters.  "  In  this  sense,"  says 
Paul,  "  I,  who  was  a  fugitive  slave  rushing  away  from 
my  Master,   was  '  arrested '  by  Him  on  the  way  to 


170  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Damascus,  when  he  cried  after  me,  'Saul,  Saul,  why 
persecutest  thou  me?'  and  when  He  caught  me,  or 
'  apprehended  me,'  *  He  put  His  own  brand  or  mark 
upon  me  ;  these  eyes,  which  He  struck  blind  with  the 
blaze  of  His  glory,  I  am  to  bear  continually  about  with 
me  as  the  '  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus.'  " 

There  is  one  other  verse  in  the  epistle,  to  which  I 
shall  refer,  bearing  upon  the  same ;  it  is  in  the  con- 
cluding words  of  it.  He  says,  "  Ye  see  how  large  a 
letter  I  have  written  unto  you  with  my  own  hand."t 
From  the  weakness  of  his  eyesight,  Paul  was  always  in 
the  habit  of  employing  another  to  write  for  him.  To 
show  his  affection,  however,  for  this  warm-hearted 
people,  he  says,  "  See,  I  have  made  an  exception  in  your 
case.  Suffering  though  I  am  from  these  eyes  of  mine, 
I  have  sent  you  a  letter  in  my  own  handwriting."  It 
has  been  rightly  observed,  that  the  expression,  "  See 
how  large  a  letter,"  does  not  refer  to  the  length  of  the 
epistle,  but  to  the  clumsy  writing.  He  apologises  to 
them  for  this.  aSee,"  he  says,  "in  what  awkward 
characters  I  have  written  unto  you;  but  you  cannot 
expect  otherwise  from  my  eyesight.  You  will  pardon 
their  inelegance,  and  understand  what  I  mean  by  put- 
ting myself  to  this  piece  of  unusual  labour ;  it  is  to 
give  you  a  proof  of  my  cordial  love  for  you,  and  my 
interest  in  your  welfare." 

We  have  strong  reason  to  infer,  then,  on  these  and 
other  considerations,  that  Paul's  "thorn  in  the  flesh" 
was  no  other  than  a  disease  in  his  eyes ;  so  bad,  too, 
as  to  have  made  him  occasionally,  when  it  increased, 
nearly  blind,  as  we  read,  in  an  after-portion  of  his  life, 
that  he  was   " corjlucted"  by  others  to  Athens.^     It 

*  Phil.  iii.  12.  t  Gal.  vi.  11.  t  Acts  xvii.  15. 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  171 

must  indeed  have  been  a  severe  trial  to  the  great  mis- 
sionary apostle ;  not  only  from  the  ridicule  which  the 
bodily  defect  might  draw  down  at  times  upon  him  from 
his  enemies,  but  think  of  his  constant  exposure  to  the 
open  air,  and  the  sudden  changes  from  the  burning- 
heat  of  the  summer  plains  to  the  cutting  breezes  and 
cold  of  the  mountains.  How  acute  often  must  have 
been  his  sufferings  in  an  organ  so  sensitive  to  pain  as 
we  know  the  eye  is!  Three  times,  he  tells  us,  did  he 
pray  that  his  malady  might  be  removed.  The  prayer 
was  granted ;  not,  however,  in  the  manner  he  wished 
or  expected,  but  in  the  way  which  God  saw  best.  The 
thorn  still  remained  ■  but  his  Lord  gave  him,  in  answer 
to  his  prayer,  "more  grace."-  "My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee;  for  My  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weak- 
ness."* The  great  and  holy  man  was  satisfied;  he 
saw  that  all  was  for  his  good.  He  was  led  triumph- 
antly to  say,  "I  take  pleasure  in  infirmities;"  "Most 
gladly  will  I  rather  glory  in  my  infirmities,  that  the 
power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me."t  "  This  giant 
apostle — this  spiritual  conqueror  of  the  half  of  Asia 
and  the  whole  of  Europe,  had  a  bodily  weakness  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  all,  which  emboldened  his 
enemies,  which  troubled  himself,  and  which  seemed  to 
render  him  for  ever  disqualified  for  his  work.  Well ! 
God  thus  made  him  weak  for  the  express  purpose  of 
glorifying  Himself  in  him."  J 

We  cannot,  immediately  after  this,  very  accurately 
trace  the  course  which  the  missionary  band  took.     I 

*  2  Cor.  xii.  9. 

t  See  on  this  also  the  fall  and  satisfactory  statement  of  Mr  Lewin,  vol.  i. 
p.  213. 

t  Monod's  Si  Paul,  p.  151. 


172  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

have  already  noted  that  they  were  forbidden  to  go  to 
Asia  or  Bithynia.  "  The  Spirit  suffered  them  not." 
Why  they  were  not  suffered,  it  is  not  for  us  to  inquire. 
It  has  been  thought,  from  the  dedication  of  Peter's 
first  epistle,  that  these  regions,  including  Bithynia, 
were  specially  allotted  to  him.  "Peter,  an  apostle  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  the  strangers  scattered  throughout 
Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia"* 
"We  need  not,  however,  attempt  to  explain,  where  the 
Word  of  God  is  silent.  Bending  their  course  directly 
westward,  they  probably  went  to  a  sea-port  town  on 
the  iEgean,  called  Adramyttium ;  from  thence  along 
the  coast  to  Assos,  where  a  beautiful  road,  of  nineteen 
miles,  brought  them  through  the  oak  woods  that 
skirted  Mount  Ida  to  Troas.  This  was,  and  still  is,  a 
spot  of  deep  and  sacred  interest.  It  was  the  scene  of 
the  oldest  and  greatest  war  of  antiquity — the  Trojan. 
Greek  and  Latin  poets  have  vied  with  one  another  to 
celebrate  its  scenery.  Mount  Ida  rose  behind  it  with 
its  beautiful  woods  and  sparkling  streams — the  island 
of  Tenedos  lay  on  the  bosom  of  the  sea  in  front  of  its 
harbour — while,  far  off  in  the  blue  distance,  the  near- 
est land  of  Europe  was  in  sight — the  lofty  Grecian 
Mount  Athos.  Perhaps  the  time  when  Paul  ap- 
proached it  answered  to  the  description  of  a  modern 
traveller,  who  thus  speaks  of  the  close  of  his  first  day's 
visit  to  Troas  : — "  The  beauty  of  the  evening  in  this 
country  surpasses  all  description.  The  sky  glowed 
with  the  rich  tints  of  the  setting  sun,  which  now,  skirt- 
ing the  western  horizon,  raised,  as  it  were,  up  to  our 
view  the  distant  summits  of  the  European  mountains. 
We  saw  Mount  Athos  distinctly,  of  a  conical  form,  and 

*  Chap.  i.  ]. 


THE  SECOND  JOURNEY.  173 

so  lofty,  that  on  the  top,  as  the  ancients  relate,  the  sun- 
rising  was  beheld  four  hours  sooner  than  by  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  coast ;  and,  at  the  solstice,  its  shade 
reached  into  the  Agora  or  market-place  of  Myrina,  a 
town  in  Lemnos,  which  island  was  distant  87  miles 
eastward."* 

The  town  of  Troas  itself  must  have  been  a  very  con- 
siderable one.  It  stood  on  a  height,  sloping  gently 
down  to  the  sea.  A  deep'  ravine  separated  it  from 
Mount  Ida,  and  a  large  plain  stretched  on  either  side 
by  the  sea-shore.t  Large  masses  of  hewn  stone,  walls 
that  include  a  circuit  of  nine  miles,  and  the  ruins  of 
piers  and  arches,  remain  to  this  day  to  bespeak  its 
former  greatness.  The  situation  was  so  striking  in 
itself,  and  so  renowned  in  story,  that  Constantine,  before 
he  fixed  on  Constantinople  as  the  site  of  his  new  capi- 
tal, is  said  to  have  wavered  between  it  and  Troas ;  J  in- 
deed, at  this  day,  it  retains  the  name  of  Eski-Stamboul, 
or  Old  Constantinople. 

We  have  supposed  the  apostle  and  his  friends  ap- 
proached this  classic  city  by  the  winding  road  that 
skirted  the  sea-beach,  unless,  from  the  expression, 
"they  came  down"  to  Troas,  we  are  to  infer  that  they 
crossed  one  of  the  shoulders  of  Mount  Olympus,  and 
looked  from  the  summit  on  the  celebrated  "Trojan 
plains."  If  so,  Paul,  with  his  taste  and  scholarship, 
could  not  surely  feel  unmoved  and  uninterested  on  a 
spot  which,  while  the  world  lasts,  will  be  remembered 
in  connexion  with  Homer — its  oldest  and,  in  many 
respects,  greatest  poet.  On  those  very  sandy  plains 
and  knolls  along  which  they  passed,  the  prancing  war- 

*  Chandler's  Travels  in  Asia  Minor,  p.  23.  t  Ibid.  p.  26. 

%  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  quoted  by  Howson. 


174  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

steeds  and  chariots  of  the  Trojans  and  Greeks  had 
rattled  along.  "But  who  would  recognise,  in  those 
shallow  reedy  streams,  the  Simois  and  Scamander  of 
the  poet's  fancy  ?  The  storm  of  war  had  swept  over 
the  spot,  and  now  it  was  the  path  of  the  messengers  of 
peace.  Europe  had  poured  forth  her  thousands  to 
desolate  and  destroy;  and  Asia,  in  return,  sent  her 
three  wayworn  pilgrims — Paul,  Silas,  and  Timothy — 
to  proclaim  to  Europe  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel ! 
They  passed  on,  and  entered  Troas."  * 

That  night  was  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  When 
the  great  apostle  lay  himself  down  on  his  pillow,  and 
composed  himself  to  sleep,  a  vision  appeared  at  his 
bed-side.  A  figure,  like  "  a  man  of  Macedonia,"  stood 
over  him,  and  beckoned  to  him,  saying,  "  Come  over 
and  help  us!"  It  was  the  voice  of  his  God  telling 
him  there  were  perishing  millions  in  Europe,  who  were 
waiting  to  receive  the  bread  of  life.  He  could  not 
resist  the  solemn  pleadings  of  that  nightly  apparition. 
The  next  day  we  may  imagine  the  four  strangers  (for 
Luke,  "  the  beloved  physician,"  who  writes  so  faithfully 
his  history,  had  now  joined  them) — we  may  picture 
them  by  the  harbour  of  Troas,  entering  some  trading- 
vessel  about  to  convey  them  to  Greece.  The  ship 
weighs  anchor — the  sails  are  spread  ;  and,  on  the  bosom 
of  the  surging  iEgean,  riches  more  precious  than  the 
gold  of  Ophir  are  carried  to  the  civilised  countries  of 
Europe.  Each  of  us  were  deeply  interested  in  that 
vessel  as  it  flies  before  the  south  wind  to  Samothracia  ! 
Ah !  little  did  poor  heathen  Britain  think  at  that 
moment  there  was  then  advancing  nearer  her  shores  so 
rich  a  prize  for  her  children's  children  ! 

*  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  223. 


CHAPTER  X. 


%k  Iran. 


"  When  Persecution's  torrent-blaze 

Wraps  the  unshrinking  martyr's  head  ; 

When  fade  all  earthly  flowers  and  bays, 
When  summer  friends  are  gone  and  fled ; 

Is  he  alone  in  that  dark  hour 

Who  owns  the  Lord  of  love  and  power? 

Or  waves  there  not  around  his  brow 

A  wand  no  human  arm  may  yield, 
Fraught  with  a  spell  no  angels  know, 

His  steps  to  guide,  his  soul  to  shield  ]" 

"  None  of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto 
myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry 
I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus." — Acts  xx.  24. 


he  Apostle,  when  he  entered  Troas  the 
day  before,  had  probably  very  much 
the  feelings  of  his  great  ancestor  Abraham,  of  whom 
we  read  that  "he  went  out,  not  knowing  whither 
he  went."  It  has  been  indeed  supposed  that  Paul 
had  some  serious  thoughts  at  this  time  of  going  to 
the  city  of  Rome.  He  wished  to  carry  the  gospel 
of  his  Divine  Master  within  hearing  of  the  world's 
capital,  and  the  palace  of  the  Caesars.  God  was  at 
a  future  time  to  fulfil  his  wish  ;  but  he  graciously 
"  hindered"  him  now.  It  shows  how  far  better  the 
Lord  knows  what  is  the  right  path  for  us  than  we 
know  ourselves.  If  Paul  had  trusted  to  his  own 
wisdom  and  guidance,  and  cone  direct  at  this  period 


178  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP1  ST  PAUL. 

to  Italy,  he  would  have  shared  in  the  violent  expul- 
sion which  took  place  of  all  the  Jews  from  Rome  by 
the  edict  of  Claudius.  The  time  would  have  been 
wasted  which  he  profitably  employed  elsewhere.  He 
could  feelingly  say  of  a  kind  Providence  afterwards,  re- 
garding his  intentions  of  visiting  the  city  of  the  Tiber, 
"Oft  times  I  purposed  to  come  unto  you,  but  was  let 
(or  hindered)  hitherto."  The  striking  vision  mentioned 
at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter  "  hindered"  him  at  pre- 
sent, and  determined  his  journey  to  the  regions  of 
Macedonia.* 

We  have  also  just  referred  to  a  new  name  added  to 
their  little  band — that  of  Luke.  As  he  is  not  only  the 
companion  of  the  Great  Apostle,  but  his  biographer, 
we  may  well  pause,  on  this  the  first  mention  of  him 
in  the  narrative,  to  say  a  few  words  regarding  his  his- 
tory. If  you  look  at  the  chapter  in  the  Acts  describ- 
ing their  leaving  Troas,  you  will  see  that  the  plural 
pronoun  "  we"  is  used  for  the  first  time.  "  After  he 
had  seen  the  vision,  immediately  we"  (indicating  that 
Luke  was  one  of  the  number)  "  endeavoured  to  go 
into  Macedonia."  t 

Luke,  or  Lucius,  was  most  probably,  from  his  name, 
not  a  Jew,  but  a  Gentile  by  birth.  The  opinion,  too, 
has  been  hazarded,  that  he  had  been  once  a  slave 
at  Rome — that  he  had  there  practised  the  art  of  medi- 
cine in  his  master's  family — and  that,  after  a  certain 
period,  in  reward  for  his  services,  freedom  had  been 
conferred  on  him.  He  seems  to  have  returned  thence 
to  his  native  city  of  Antioch;J  and  while  there,  carry- 
ing on  his  profession  as  a  physician,  §  he  was  brought 

*  Lewin,  vol.  i,  p.  224.  t  Acts  xvi.  10. 

t  Eusebius  and  Jerome.  §  Col.  iv.  14. 


THE  PRISON.  170 

under  the  power  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Some 
have  thought  that  he  acted  as  a  ship  surgeon,  or  what 
is  equally  probable,  he  was  what  in  modern  days  we 
call  (in  connexion  particularly  with  China)  a  "  medical 
missionary'''' — a  physician  inspired  with  love  to  the 
"  Great  Physician  of  Souls,"  and  who,  while  he  exer- 
cised his  healing  art  on  the  bodies  of  men,  at  the  same 
time  tried  to  lead  them  to  "  the  balm  in  Gilead,  and 
the  Physician  there."  It  is  interesting  thus  to  think 
of  this  earnest  man,  sailing  about  from  island  to  island 
in  the  vast  Archipelago  with  healing  medicines  alike 
for  soul  and  body.  It  is  interesting  to  think  of  him, 
also,  as  the  attendant  and  friend  of  our  apostle  on  this 
and  a  future  voyage.  I  have  recently  spoken  of  Paul's 
dangerous  illness  in  Galatia ;  it  is  not  at  all  improbable 
that  he  may  have  sent  a  message  to  the  beloved  physi- 
cian to  meet  him  at  Troas,  and  give  him  the  benefit  of 
his  medical  skill  and  Christian  counsel.  One  of  the 
last  short  entries  in  the  Great  Apostle's  life  tells  us  at 
once  of  the  faithful  and  devoted  friendship  of  this 
Christian  physician,  and  Paul's  estimate  of  his  services. 
He  is  mentioning,  with  a  sorrowing  heart,  how  all  had 
forsaken  him ;  but  he  adds,  "only  Luke  is  with  me."* 
The  little  band  are  now  fairly  on  their  way.  A 
prosperous  wind  brings  them  in  two  days  to  the  north 
of  Greece.  They  seem  to  have  anchored  for  the  first 
night  at  the  island  of  Samothrace,  where  the  moun- 
tains rise  to  a  great  height  above  the  sea,  forming  a 
landmark  to  the  Grecian  sailors  for  a  long  distance, 
and  regarded  by  these  Pagan  mariners  of  old  with  a 
sacred  reverence.  Neptune,  the  god  of  the  sea,  in  the 
heathen  mythology,  was  supposed  to  have  his  throne 

*  2  Tim.  iv.  11. 


180  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

on  the  cliffs  of  Samothrace ;  from  thence  it  was  thought 
he  had  looked  down  on  the  scene  of  the  Trojan  war,  ani- 
mating its  heroes ;  and  the  caves  which  he  made  his 
ordinary  dwelling  were  imagined  to  be  deep  down  in  the 
ocean,  between  Imbros  and  Tenedos.  Such  were  the 
false  but  beautiful  dreams  of  the  heathen  world,  which 
a  feeble  pilgrim,  who  had  now  moored  his  bark  near 
these  fabled  caverns,  was  to  be  instrumental  more 
than  any  other  in  dispel] ing  for  ever  !  From  thence 
they  sailed  north-west  to  the  harbour  of  Philippi ;  it 
was  called  Neapolis,  or  "  New  City "  (now  Cavallo), 
situated  in  a  sheltered  bay  or  haven.  Here  travellers 
landed  when  they  wished  to  pursue  the  Via  Egnatia, 
the  great  military  road  which  led  to  Italy.  Between 
Philippi  and  this  port-town,  a  distance  of  ten  miles, 
was  a  craggy  ridge,  rising  steep  from  the  sea,  by 
which  it  was  necessary  for  the  apostles  to  cross.  We 
may  imagine  them  pausing  when  they  reached  the 
summit,  and  seating  themselves  on  one  of  the  masses 
of  rock,  which  modern  travellers  speak  of,  looking  down 
on  the  prospect  on  either  side.  Behind  them  their 
eyes  would  rest  upon  a  vast  wilderness  of  blue  waters, 
with  Mount  Athos  rising  in  the  far  distance ;  on  the 
inland  side  they  would  behold  a  spacious  plain,  watered 
by  many  little  streams,  the  richly  wooded  valley  of 
Seres  running  towards  the  west.  Situated  in  the 
midst  of  these  streams,  on  account  of  which  it  was 
originally  called  Crenides,  or  Fountains,  is  the  town  of 
Philippi.  The  city,  I  need  not  say,  from  its  name,  was 
built  by  Philip  of  Macedon,  father  of  Alexander  the 
Great.  In  its  immediate  neighbourhood  there  was  a 
famous  hill,  called  "  Bacchus-mount,"  rich  in  golden 
treasure,  from  whose  mines  the  king  was  said  to  have 


THE  PRISON.  ltfl 

gained  annually  one  thousand  talents.  The  town  itself 
was  enclosed  with  a  wall,  which  stretched  down  on 
either  side  from  the  fortress.  Two  American  mission- 
aries, who  some  time  ago  travelled  in  that  region,  give 
us  some  interesting  details  about  the  present  appear- 
ance of  Philippi.  They  observed  the  ruins  of  the  castle 
on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  traces  of  a  forum,  the  seat 
of  justice — perhaps  the  very  same  within  which  we 
shall  presently  find  Paul  and  his  companion  standing, 
and  submitting  to  the  rods  of  the  lictors.  The  ruins 
of  a  palace,  built  of  the  finest  white  marble,  is  the 
grandest  of  the  old  monuments  still  existing,  although 
it  is  fast  disappearing  under  the  hands  of  the  Turks, 
who  are  despoiling  it  to  form  their  gravestones.* 
Those  who  have  read  Roman  history  know  well  how 
famous  Philippi  and  its  neighbourhood  was,  from  being 
the  scene  of  a  great  battle.  Here  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
Octavius  and  Antony,  pitched  their  camps.  The  two 
former  were  defeated ;  and,  at  their  own  request,  slain 
by  the  hands  of  their  comrades,  rather  than  fall  into 
those  of  the  enemy.  In  honour  of  the  victory,  Augus- 
tus declared  Philippi  to  be  in  future  the  capital  of  the 
province,  and  seat  of  the  government.  Paul  is  about 
to  make  it  renowned  as  the  scene  of  a  greater  moral 
victory,  with  weapons  which  are  not  "  carnal,  but 
mighty,  through  God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong- 
holds." Philippi  itself  was  a  sort  of  little  Rome,  it 
was  peopled  by  Romans,  its  citizens  spoke  the  Roman 
tongue,  and  prided  themselves  in  Roman  manners  and 
customs.  There  were  few  Jews,  indeed  so  few,  that 
there  was  not  even  a  synagogue.  Their  only  place  of 
worship  was  one  of  the  Proseuchce, — slight  and  uncostly 

*  Dwight  and  Schauffler,  as  quoted  by  Dr  Kitto. 


182  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

buildings  for  prayer  and  religious  service.  Some  of 
these  were  open  at  the  top,  and  exposed  to  the  weather. 
They  were  most  generally  situated  in  a  grove,  or  under 
a  tree,  either  by  the  sea-side,  or,  more  commonly  still, 
by  the  banks  of  a  river,  as  many  of  the  Jewish  cere- 
monial observances  required  water  for  performing 
ablutions.*  The  one  at  Philippi  was  outside  the  city, 
by  the  banks  of  the  river  Gaggitas,  or  Zygactes, — a  word 
which  means  "  pole-break,"  and  which  is  said  to  have 
been  so  called  by  the  Greeks  from  another  absurd 
legend  they  had,  that  one  of  their  false  gods,  Pluto,  in 
crossing  it  broke  the  pole  of  his  chariot  on  the  banks  !  t 
A  few  women,  "  proselytes  of  the  gate,"  as  they  were 
called,  believers  in  the  God  of  Israel,  Sabbath  after 
Sabbath  had  been  accustomed  to  meet  here  for  prayer, 
both  those  who  were  by  birth  Jewesses,  as  well  as 
other  residents  in  the  town.  Among  these  there  was 
one  of  the  name  of  Lydia,  a  stranger  from  a  province  hi 
Asia,  for  it  is  expressly  said  she  belonged  to  "the  city 
of  Thyatira."  This  city  had  been  long  celebrated,  and, 
indeed,  is  to  this  very  day  celebrated,  %  f°r  its  purple 
dye ;  and  she  was  one  of  many  who  made  her  liveli- 
hood by  selling  it.  It  was  among  this  handful  of  lowly 
women  that  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God  was 
first  preached  in  Europe  !  In  no  splendid  temple,  or 
gorgeous  cathedral,  but  at  a  simple  prayer-meeting  in 
an  oratory  by  a  river  side !     The  heart  of  Lydia  was 

*  Home's  Introduction,  Olshausen,  Epiphanius,  &c. 
j-  Appian  iv.  105,  as  qiioted  by  Lewin. 

\  So  far  back  as  the  time  of  Homer  we  read  of  the  Lydian  purple — 
"  And  as  by  Lydian  or  by  Carian  maid, 
The  purple  dye  is  on  the  ivory  laid." — Iliad. 
Dr  Kitto  gives  tbe  following  extract  from  Sir  Emerson  Tennant's  Let- 
ters from  the  Mgean — "  Large  quantities  "  (of  scarlet  or  purple  cloths)  "are 
sent  weekly  to  Smyrna  for  the  purposes  of  commerce." 


THE  PKISON.  183 

opened  as  Paul  and  Silas  unfolded  the  great  salva- 
tion. She  was  convinced  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
indeed  the  true  Messiah,  and  Son  of  God,  and  in  His 
name  she  and  her  household  were  immediately  bap- 
tized. It  is  striking  here  to  observe  how  God  finds 
out  his  people,  and  brings  them  under  the  power  of  the 
truth.  Lydia  was  an  inhabitant  of  one  of  those  very 
cities  in  Asia  where  Paul  had  been  "  forbidden  ".  to 
preach.  Probably  she  lived  almost  constantly  at  Thy- 
atira ;  but  her  passing  visit  at  Philippi  was  ordained 
and  overruled  by  a  higher  Hand  to  bestow  a  nobler 
"citizenship"  upon  her  !  She  was  just  following  her 
wonted  trade  as  "  a  seller  of  purple,"  when  the  Lord 
sent  his  servants  to  declare  to  her  the  way  of  life.  It 
is  another  of  the  many  striking  examples  given  us  in 
His  Word,  of  how  He  delights  to  meet  His  people  in 
the  ordinary  business  and  employments  of  life.  He  called 
Matthew  when  he  was  seated  at  his  toll-bar — Peter  and 
Andrew  at  their  nets,  and  here  he  meets  Lydia  when 
in  a  strange  city  she  has  taken  up  her  abode  to  prose- 
cute her  trade.  It  teaches  us  the  great  lesson — that 
we  do  not  require  to  leave  the  duties  of  life  in  order 
to  be  religious.  With  that  Christian  love  and  hospi- 
tality, so  common  in  these  primitive  ages,  this  earliest 
convert  at  Philippi  took  the  apostles  to  her  own  house, 
and  made  them  take  up  their  abode  during  their  stay 
at  Philippi.  This  was  the  first  of  many  proofs  of  per- 
sonal kindness  Paul  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Phi- 
lippians  Four  times  we  find  during  his  life  did  they 
liberally  contribute  to  supply  his  wants ;  and  we  shall 
afterwards  see  how  his  Roman  dungeon  was  cheered 
with  the  gifts  of  their  bounty. 

God  seemed  to  smile  upon  these  early  labours  of 


184  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

his  servants  at  Philippi.  The  church  grew,  men  and 
women  were  added  to  it,  and  for  "  many  days "  their 
teaching  was  allowed  to  go  on  undisturbed.  A  terrible 
furnace,  however,  was  at  hand — although  grace  was 
to  be  given  these  faithful  men  to  pass  boldly  through 

I  must  proceed  to  tell  you  the  cause  of  this  "  fiery 
trial "  which  was  about  to  "  try  them."  There  were 
some  wicked  heathen  masters,  whose  female  slave  or 
servant  had  "  a  spirit  of  divination,"  or  "  spirit  of  Py- 
thon"— that  is,  the  Prince  of  darkness  had  sent  some 
of  his  evil  spirits  or  agents  to  take  possession  of  her 
mind ;  for  at  this  time,  when  Jesus,  the  true  light,  had 
come  into  the  world,  the  powers  of  darkness  seem  to 
have  exercised  an  unusual  influence  over  both  the  bodies 
and  souls  of  men.  This  female,  by  wild  gestures  and 
words,  and  ravings,  called  "oracles,"  practised  on  the 
weakness  of  the  ignorant  by  pretending  to  foretell  the 
events  of  the  future.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  supposed 
such  unhappy  persons  to  be  possessed  by  the  god  Apollo, 
and  that  through  his  agency  they  had  this  "  spirit  of 
divination."  Apollo  was  often  called  by  the  title  of  the 
"  Pythian  Apollo," — Python  being  a  serpent  which  he 
was  said  to  have  destroyed  with  arrows,  so  soon  as  he 
was  born.  These  masters  thus  made  a  gain  of  this  poor 
girl,  getting  money  from  those  whose  future  history 
or  fortune  she  pretended  to  read.  Paul  and  Silas 
seem,  after  the  conversion  of  Lydia,  to  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  going  for  some  time  to  the  oratory  at  the 
river's  side.  The  number  of  hearers  was  daily  increas- 
ing, and  the  devout  women  had  probably  brought  with 
them  their  relatives  and  friends,  to  listen  to  the  words 
of  eternal  life.  The  "  possessed  "  slave  had  followed  the 
apostles  several  times  when  they  were  on  their  way 


THE   PRISON.  185 

thither,  crying  after  them,  "  These  men  are  the  slaves 
of  the  Most  High  God."  She  may  possibly  have  been 
herself  a  Jewess ;  she  may  have  had  some  idea  about 
the  coming  of  the  Christ;  and  the  preaching  of  Paul 
may  have  produced  some  singular  effect  on  her  mind,* 
for  she  added,  "  They  show  unto  us  the  way  of  salva- 
tion." Day  after  day  she  seems  to  have  returned  to 
the  same  spot,  repeating  her  wild  ravings.  Paul  feared 
lest  such  a  testimony  might  bring  discredit  on  their 
cause,  and  wishing  to  show  the  superiority  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  to  the  powers  of  imposture,  he  turned 
round  on  one  of  these  occasions,  and  in  the  name  of 
his  Divine  Master  rebuked  the  evil  spirit.  It  imme- 
diately came  out  of  her,  and  the  sufferer  was  restored 
to  her  right  mind. 

You  may  imagine  the  rage  and  anger  of  her  mas- 
ters when  they  saw  the  demon  expelled,  and  all  hope 
of  further  gain  gone.  They  resolved  to  have  a  full  re- 
venge, and  they  knew  the  multitude  would  heartily 
second  them.  Accordingly,  they  seized  on  the  apostles, 
and  dragged  them  before  the  magistrates  in  the  forum, 
or  market-place.  They  accused  them  of  having  thrown 
the  whole  city  into  confusion,  and  of  unlawfully  trying 
to  introduce  a  new  religion  among  Roman  citizens.  I 
have  already  mentioned  that  some  offending  Jews 
had  shortly  before  been  driven  from  Rome  ;  the  Philip- 
pians  doubtless  thought  they  might  well  follow  the 
example.  The  violence  of  the  mob  was  great,  and  the 
magistrates  gave  orders  to  the  lictors  to  strip  the 
two  apostles  and  scourge  them.  What  a  sad  and 
sorrowful  sight,  these  holy  men  dragged  along  to 
receive  this  fearful  punishment !     Their  garments  are 

*  Lewin. 


186  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

torn  off  their  backs  ;  *  the  lictors  untie  their  "  fasces,' 
or  bundle  of  rods,  made  of  elm  wood,  and  these  descend 
upon  them  in  heavy  blows.  Paul  may  have  all  the 
time  been  calling  out,  with  righteous  indignation, 
"  Scourge  me  not !  It  is  at  your  peril  if  you  do,  with- 
out even  the  form  of  a  trial.  I  am  a  Roman  !  "t  But 
if  he  did,  they  refused  to  hear.  His  voice  was  drowned 
in  the  clamour.  There  is  no  doubt  this  was  regarded 
by  the  apostles  not  only  as  a  severe,  but  as  a  degrad- 
ing punishment.  It  was  much  more  cruel  than  the 
Jewish  manner  of  scourging,  which  Paul  once  en- 
dured. The  latter  was  inflicted  with  leathern  thongs. 
Moreover,  by  the  Jewish  law,  they  were  restricted  to 
forty  stripes.  The  apostle,  in  referring  to  the  ills  he 
had  endured  at  the  hands  of  his  countrymen,  says, 
"  Five  times  I  received  forty  stripes  save  one."  Thirty- 
nine  seems  to  have  been  the  usual  number ;  but  in  the 
case  of  the  Roman  rod-scourging,  he  speaks  of  suffeiing 
stripes  "  above  measure."  There  was  in  it  no  limita- 
tion. J  We  have  already  noted  the  occasion  of  the 
reference  in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians  to  the  "  perils 
of  waterfloods,"  and  "perils  of  robbers."  Here  we 
have  another,  which  he  speaks  of  in  the  same  passage, 
"  Thrice  ivas  I  beaten  with  rods."  § 

But  the  Praetors  in  the  present  case  were  not  con- 
tented with  the  scourging ;  they  gave  the  jailer  strict 
orders  to  keep  them   "  safely."      It  was  a  significant 


*  "The  lictors  being  sent  to  inflict  punishment,  beat  them  with  rods, 
being  naked." — Livy,  ii.  5.  '.'  He  commanded  the  men  to  be  seized,  and  to 
be  stripped  naked  in  the  midst  of  the  forum,  and  to  be  bound,  and  rods  to 
be  brought." — Cicero,  quoted  by  Barnes. 

t  Cicero,  Verr.  v.  57. 

t  Or  Kitto's  Bible  Illustrations. 

§  ?,  Cor.  xi.  25, 


the  ritisoN.  187 

hint  to  deal  as  harshly  with  them  as  he  might. 
Faint  and  bleeding,  they  are  hurried  away  to  a  dark 
prison  ;  their  limbs,  still  quivering  under  the  scourge, 
are  thrust  into  the  stocks,  and  so  fastened  that  they 
will  be  unable  to  move  them.*  No  wonder  Paul 
should,  in  an  after  period,  when  he  was  writing  to  the 
Thessalonians,  speak  of  the  way  in  which  he  was 
"  shamefully  treated  at  PkilippL"f  It  must  be  observed, 
too,  that  it  was  the  inner  prison  into  which  the  apostles 
were  thrown, — doubtless  one  of  those  dark  cells  that  had 
such  a  terrible  name  in  the  Roman  world,  where  the 
heavily-bound  captives  were  left  to  endure  the  tortures 
of  a  living  death  !  "  We  must  picture  to  ourselves 
something  very  different  from  the  austere  comfort  of 
an  English  jail.  ....  The  inner  prisons  of  which  we 
read  in  the  ancient  world,  were  like  that  'dungeon 
in  the  court  of  the  prison'  into  which  Jeremiah  was 
let  down  with  cords,  and  where  '  he  sank  in  the  mire.' 
They  were  pestilential  cells,  damp  and  cold,  from  which 
the  light  was  excluded,  and  where  the  chains  rusted  on 
the  limbs  of  the  prisoners."  J  We  can  think  of  the 
apostles,  when,  under  the  guidance  of  a  rough  jailer, 
they  passed  from  cell  to  cell,  and  heard  the  clanking 
which  told  of  miserable  beings  who  were  already  their 
inmates.  They  have  reached  the  appointed  dungeon, 
and  have  bidden  farewell  to  the  cheering  light  of  day ; 
but  they  are  not  downcast.  Though  they  have  nothing 
to  expect  but  a  dreadful  morrow,  there  is  an  inner  sun- 

*  "  (;v\ov,  nervus.  A  wooden  block  furnished  with  holes,  into  which 
the  feet  were  put,  and,  according  to  the  severity  of  the  torture,  stretched 
far  from  one  another.  Origen,  in  his  extreme  old  age,  was  obliged  to  bear 
this  torture,  and  for  several  days  to  lie  in  such  an  instrument,  with  limbs 
far  spread  out  from  one  another."— Olshausen  On  Acts,  p.  557. 

t  1  Thess.  ii.  2. 

t  Howson  and  Conybeare,  vol.  i.  p.  326. 


1  88  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

shine  which  is  lighting  up  their  souls,  which  the  poor 
jailer,  as  yet,  knows  nothing  of.  The  magistrates  who 
so  cruelly  condemned  them,  are  now  perhaps  sleeping 
tranquilly  on  their  pillows,  but  suffering  seems  to  have 
banished  sleep  from  the  eyes  of  the  prisoners.  We 
may  picture  to  ourselves  the  deep  darkness  that  has 
gathered  around  them;  perhaps  the  tempest  howling 
piteously  through  their  vaulted  cell,  and  now  and  then, 
when  there  was  a  pause  in  the  storm,  the  heavy- 
measured  tramp  of  the  sentinel  reminding  them  of 
their  terrible  situation.  Or  shall  we  imagine  the 
storm  has  spent  itself '?  It  is  the  stillness  of  the  mid- 
night hour  !  The  other  prisoners  are  startled  from 
their  chains  by  a  strange  and  unwonted  sound  j  it  is 
the  two  Jews,  brought,  on  the  previous  evening,  who 
are  making  their  dungeon  resound,  not  with  piteous 
groans  and  lamentations  under  the  torture  of  their 
torn  backs  and  fettered  limbs,  but  with  songs  of  joy 
and  praise.  "  Paul  and  Silas  prayed  and  sang  praises 
to  God  !"  What  these  praises  were,  we  are  not  told. 
They  probably  were  the  songs  of  the  sweet  Psalmist  of 
Israel,  many  of  which  were  so  suitable  to  their  case. 
Their  voices  would  join  together  in  earnest  entreaty, 
that  the  same  God,  who  had  rescued  Joseph  of  old 
when  "  his  feet  were  bound  with  fetters  of  iron,"  would 
"hear  the  groaning  of  the  prisoner,  and  free  them  that 
were  appointed  to  death."  How  strange  the  feelings 
of  those  must  have  been  who  were  listening  to  them ! 
— wretched  outcasts,  robbers,  murderers,  thieves,  rebels, 
traitors,  profligates."*  How  strange  for  them  to  hear, 
in  such  a  place,  sweet  strains  of  gratitude  and  love! 
— no  complaining  under  their  torture,  but,  perhaps, 

*  Howson  and  Conybeare,  vol.  i.  p  328. 


THE  PEISON.  189 

like  Stephen,  or  Stephen's  Lord,  praying  for  their  very 
enemies,  and  committing  their  cause  to  the  God  they 
served. 

At  that  very  moment,  when  prayer  and  praise  were 
ascending  together  at  midnight,  an  earthquake  shook 
the  prison  walls  to  their  foundations.     The  bands  of 
all  the  prisoners  are  loosed — the  doors  are  shattered 
on  their  hinges,  and  fly  open  !     It  is  God  Himself,  who 
has  "heard  them  while  they  are  yet  speaking" — come 
to  give   them   release.     Do    they   immediately    avail 
themselves  of  the  opened  doors  to  make  their  escape  ? 
We  might  have  thought  so ;    but  no !   Paul  and  his 
companion  had  work  to  do  in  that  prison ;  they  had 
troubled  souls  to  comfort  and  save ;  and,  forgetful  of 
themselves,  they  remain  quietly  in  their  cell.  There  is  one 
much  agitated  spirit,  who,  roused  by  the  earthquake's 
crash,  comes  rushing  into  them  with  a  flaming  torch 
in  his  hand :  it  is  the  morose  and  hard-hearted  jailer, 
who  feels  that  his  honour  and  his  life  are  at  stake. 
He  knows  the  terrible  vengeance  that  will  wait  him 
on  the  morrow  if  one  prisoner  be  missing.     In  a  state 
of  hopeless  despair,  he  draws  his  sword,  and  is  about 
to  plunge  it  into  his  heart,  in  order  to  escape  certain 
infamy  and  disgrace.    It  was  one  of  the  false  maxims  of 
ancient  Paganism,  that  there  was  something  meritori- 
ous in  self-destruction.    We  have,  a  little  ago,  noted  it 
in  the  case  of  two  Roman  generals,  Brutus  and  Cassius. 
Cato  was  guilty  of  self-murder  in  Utica;  and  it  was 
doubtless  the  same  mistaken  idea  which  prompted,  at 
this  moment,  the  jailer  of  Philippi  to  attempt  suicide, 
and  rush   unprepared  into  the  presence  of  his  God. 
But  Paul  cries  out,  "  Do  thyself  no  harm,  for  we  are 
all  here !"     The  keeper  must  have  been  struck  with 


190  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

the  conduct  of  these  noble-minded  prisoners.  He  had 
just  been  listening,  doubtless,  to  their  prayers  and 
praises ;  he  may  have  heard  of  the  good  news  of  salva- 
tion that  had  been  for  several  days  preached  by  them 
in  the  city ;  he  may  have  heard  the  ravings  of  the  "  pos- 
sessed" Pythoness,  proclaiming  them  to  be  messengers 
from  Heaven;  the  terrific  earthquake  shook  the  walls 
of  his  seared  and  hardened  conscience  as  well  as  of  the 
prison;  he  wondered  at  the  conduct  of  these  two  suf- 
fering Jews;  he  had  treated  them  with  nothing  but 
harshness — they  had  returned  nothing  but  kindness; 
the  door  was  open  for  their  escape,  but  they  remained 
still,  only  to  speak  words  of  comfort  to  him.  His  hea- 
then heart  wondered,  and  trembled.  Holding  a  blaz- 
ing torch  {Greek,  "lights"),  he  rushed  into  their  cell 
with  the  anxious  question,  "What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved1?"  It  was,  doubtless,  a  far  higher  salvation  the 
poor  man  was  in  search  of,  than  mere  safety  from  the 
vengeance  of  Roman  prsetors.  His  sins,  more  terrible 
than  a  scourge  of  scorpions,  rose  up  before  him.  The 
answer  was  joyfully  given — "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shall  be  saved,  and  thy  house." 

What  a  strange  scene  immediately  followed  :  the 
trembling  jailer  and  his  family  were  standing,  in  won- 
der and  terror,  in  the  apostles'  inner  cell — the  glaring 
torch-light  nickering  on  the  damp  walls  !  Along  with 
them,  we  may  believe,  other  prisoners,  loosed  from 
their  fetters,  crowded  around,  and  listened  to  a  strange 
sermon  from  the  lips  of  the  scourged  Christians,  at 
that  strange  hour,  and  in  that  strange  place.  We  may 
imagine  what  it  would  be.  Jesus! — His  work — His 
life — His  agony — His  death — would  be  fully  unfolded. 
The  storm  was  changed  into  a  calm.     Like  Elijah  in 


TIIE  PRISON.  191 

the  wilderness,  after  the  earthquake  and  the  hurricane 
came  the  "still  small  voice."  The  jailer  grasped  that 
golden  assurance  which  Paul  himself  had  seized  at  a 
similar  hour, — "  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy 
of  all  acceptation,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners." 

The  first  place  Paul  preached  at  in  Europe  was  a 
river-side  ;  the  second,  in  a  dungeon  at  midnight ! 
Truly  God  is  not  confined  to  temples  made  with  hands. 
He  could  make  a  pillow  of  rude  stones  to  Jacob,  and  a 
Roman  dungeon  to  "  the  chief  of  sinners,"  the  gate  of 
heaven !  Nor  is  He  confined  to  any  particular  manner 
of  bringing  His  people  under  the  power  of  the  truth. 
Generally  He  employs  means.  In  the  case  of  Lydia,  the 
means  was  a  prayer-meeting.  Prayer  ascended — prayer 
was  heard — her  heart  was  opened.  But  He  can  work, 
too,  independently  of  instrumentality.  He  sometimes 
shows  how  his  grace  can  triumph  over  every  obstacle, 
— a  rough  heathen  jailer,  whose  only  prayers  before 
were  probably  his  dreadful  oaths,  is  brought  in  a 
moment  to  the  foot  of  the  Saviour's  cross ! 

We  believe  that  more  in  that  Roman  prison  than 
the  jailer  had  their  hearts  touched  that  night, — other 
criminals  there,  were  probably  made  the  monuments  of 
the  same  wondrous  grace.  The  simple  history  of  Luke 
completes  the  interesting  account.  He,  who  was  so 
lately  a  stern  jailer,  now  becomes  a  Christian  friend ; 
he  feels  that  he  owes  his  two  prisoners  a  debt  which 
never  could  be  repaid ;  he  does  his  best  to  show  them 
how  much  he  felt  it ;  he  takes  them  first  of  all  to  the 
fountain  or  well  in  the  prison-court,*  and  there  washes 
their  wounds.     In  the  water  of  the  same  cistern,  he 

*  See  the  picture,  beginning  of  the  chapter. 


192  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

and  his  household  are  at  the  same  time  also  baptized. 
He  then  conducts  them  to  his  own  dwelling,  and 
sets  food  before  them.  They  rejoice  together  in  one 
blessed  Saviour,  who,  in  a  nobler  sense,  "  proclaims 
liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
to  them  that  are  bound."  Can  we  not  picture  that 
strange  family  scene  ?  While  yet  the  town  of  Philippi 
was  hushed  in  sleep,  all  ignorant  of  what  had  taken 
place  that  night  in  its  gloomy  prison, — the  jailer  seated 
in  his  own  house,  with  his  relatives  gathered  around 
him, — his  eye  every  now  and  then  filled  with  tears  of 
mingled  sorrow  and  joy,  as  he  casts  them  upon  the  two 
holy  strangers  who  had  been  the  means  of  ushering 
him  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God  ! 

What  takes  place  in  the  morning?  The  tidings  of 
the  earthquake  reach  the  ears  of  the  Roman  magis- 
trates. In  their  fear  and  terror,  they  send  orders  by 
their  lictors,  "  Let  these  men  go."  We  know  the 
superstitious  ideas  attached  by  Romans  of  old  to  an 
earthquake ;  they  invariably  imagined  it  to  indicate 
the  anger  of  their  gods,  and  it  would  not  be  difficult, 
in  the  present  instance,  to  refer  it  to  this  cause.  The 
magistrates  began  to  tremble  when  they  reflected  on 
their  own  conduct.  Such  an  outrage  on  law !  Indeed,  if 
their  doings  had  been  reported  to  the  Proconsul  of 
Macedonia,  they  might  even  have  been  called  to  an- 
swer at  Rome  in  the  presence  of  C?esar,  and  be  deprived 
of  the  powers  of  magistracy  for  life.*  They  were  very 
anxious,  therefore,  to  hush  the  matter  up ;  but  Paul 
was  a  lion-hearted  man  as  well  as  a  true  Christian,  and 
he  nobly  and  bravely  sent  word  back  that  they  would 
not  go  in  that  underhand  way  until  their  judges  came 

*  Biscoe  On  tJie  Acts ;  Livy,  iv.  9 ;  Cicero's  Orations  against  Verves,  &c. 


THE  PRISON.  193 

and  made  an  apology ;  for  they  had  violated  the  very 
laws  they  were  there  set  to  uphold.  "They  had 
beaten  them  publicly  and  uncondemned,  being  Ro- 
mans." "Nay,"  says  the  apostle,  "let  them  come 
themselves,  and  fetch  us  out ! "  *  The  praetors  saw  at 
once  that  they  had  exceeded  their  powers,  and  might 
be  severely  punished  for  their  illegal  treatment  of 
"  Roman  citizens."  So  they  had  to  go  themselves  to 
the  jail,  and  beseech  the  apostles  to  depart.  What  a 
humiliating  position  for  these  proud  Roman  magis- 
trates !  See  them  now  coming  as  suppliants  to  the 
prison  doors,  as  Paul  had  required,  and  courteously 
leading  out  those  whom,  the  day  before,  they  had  un- 
mercifully scourged  ! 

We  must  not  suppose,  from  the  apostles'  resolute 
conduct  on  this  occasion,  that  there  was  anything  like 
revenge,  or  want  of  meekness  and  submission  to  injury. 
If  they  had  left  the  prison  merely  at  the  solicitation  of 
the  rulers,  without  asking  an  apology,  it  would  more 
than  probably  have  been  said,  that  they  had  bribed 
the  jailer,  whose  fears  they  had  worked  upon,  and 
thus  made  their  escape.  This  would  inevitably  have 
damaged  their  own  reputation  and  the  success  of  the 
gospel  in  the  city  and  neighbourhood.  On  the  other 
hand,  their  bold  and  manly  conduct,  followed  as  it 
was  by  the  magistrates  coming  personally  to  request 
them  to  leave  their  cells,  must  have  told  with  power- 
ful effect  on  the  minds  of  the  Romans,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  the  future  preaching  of  the  truth  in 
Philippi.  Had  Paul,  on  his  return  in  future  years, 
been  only  known  there  as  a  poor  Jew,  who  had  left  the 
public  jail  covered  with   scourging  and  contempt,  he 

*  Acts  xvi.  37. 


194  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

would  have  attracted  little  attention ;  but  Paul,  the 
bold  and  manly  Roman  citizen,  who  had  the  forti- 
tude to  protest  against  an  unjust  and  iniquitous  act  of 
tyranny,  had  the  way  paved  for  that  happy  success 
among  rich  and  poor  which  attended  his  labours, 
afterwards,  in  the  same  town.  If  he  had  demanded 
no  such  apology,  he  would  have  gone  away  with  the 
name  of  a  "  pestilent  fellow  "  and  a  "  coward."  As  it 
was,  he  departed  an  innocent  and  a  brave  man — a 
holy,  patient,  and  devoted  Christian.  As  an  excellent 
writer  observes  on  this  subject — "  St  Paul,  in  this  in- 
stance, affords  us  a  remarkable  example  of  the  union  of 
the  two  Christian  duties,  firmness  and  forbearance.  He 
compels  the  magistrates  to  humble  themselves,  and  to 
reverse  their  unjust  sentence,  by  going  to  the  prison  in 
person  and  fetching  him  out ;  but  he  does  not,  as  he 
might  have  done,  institute  a  rigorous  prosecution 
against  them,  and  subject  them  to  heavy  penalties  for 
an  obvious  violation  of  the  well-known  Roman  law."  * 
Unmoved  by  the  past  cruelties  which  had  been  in- 
flicted on  them,  Paul  and  Silas  repair  to  the  house  of 
their  first  convert,  Lydia.  There  they  meet  other 
Christian  brethren,  who  have  assembled  to  receive  the 
apostles'  farewell  Uessing.  Timothy  and  Luke  are  left 
behind  to  nourish  the  infant  church  planted  in  the 
city  of  Philippi.  Although  Lydia  and  the  jailer,  with 
their  houses,  are  the  only  converts  specially  men- 
tioned, we  have  reason  to  believe  that  many  others, 
during  the  weeks  of  that  memorable  visit,  were  added 
to  the  church.  "  Paul  and  his  companion,  full  of 
gratitude  and  courage,  set  out  on  another  stage  of 
their  great  missionary  journey." 

*  Blunt's  Lectures  on  St  Paid. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


"  As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form 
Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm, 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 

"  He  might  have  filled  hundreds  of  martyrologies  with  his  suffer- 
ings; .  .  .  all  which  he  generously  underwent  with  a  soul  as 
calm  and  serene  as  the  morning  sun.  No  spite  or  rage,  no  fury  or 
storms,  could  ruffle  and  discompose  his  spirit;  nay,  those  sufferings, 
which  would  have  broken  the  back  of  an  ordinary  patience,  did  but 
make  him  rise  up  with  the  greater  eagerness  and  resolution  for  the 
doing  of  his  duty."— Cave's  Life  of  St  Paul,  1676. 


-fr  are  soon  to  meet  the  Great  Apostle  in  the 
streets  and  halls  of  the  most  polished  and 
learned  city  of  the  Old  World;  but  before  we  follow 
him  thither,  let  us  briefly  track  his  steps  from  the 
city  of  Philippi,  where  we  last  left  him,  weary  and 
faint  with  scourging,  but  his  spirit  full  of  joy  at  all 
the  great  things  which  God  had  done  for  him. 

Travelling  still  along  the  Via  Egnatia  by  Amphipo- 
lis  and  Apollonia,  he  reached,  in  three  days,  the  city 
of  Thessalonica.  Thessalonica  was  the  largest  town  at 
that  time  in  Macedonia,  and  is  one  of  considerable  note 
at  the  present  day,  under  the  slightly-changed  name 
of  Salooica.  It  reckons,  indeed,  third  in  importance 
in  the  Ottoman  empire  in  Europe.  If  you  look  at 
your  map,  you  will  observe  that  it  is  situated  at  the 
north  of  Greece,  close  by  the  shore  near  the  head  of 
the  Thermaic  Gulf.     It  occupies,  as  you  will  also  see 


198  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

from  the  picture,  the  slope  of  a  hill  at  the  corner  of 
the  bay.  It  was  built  by  Cassander,  one  of  the  gene- 
rals of  Alexander  the  Great,  who  was  struck  with  the 
beauty  of  the  site,*  and  compelled,  at  the  same  time, 
the  inhabitants  round  about  to  leave  their  own  cities 
and  villages,  and  take  up  their  abode  in  the  new  sea- 
port which  he  called,  after  his  wife,  Thessalonica.  At 
the  time  of  St  Paul's  visit,  it  was  the  capital  of  the 
province — a  Roman  proconsul,  with  his  lictors  and 
officers,  held  his  court  there.  It  was  what  we  may  call 
the  Liverpool  of  northern  Greece — a  great  place  for 
commerce — ships  sailing  from  its  harbour  to  all  places 
of  the  known  world.  It  became  very  soon  a  great 
Christian  capital,  and  continued  so  for  many  hundred 
years;  so  that  the  truth  of  Paul's  words  was  not  con- 
fined to  his  own  age — "  From  you  the  Word  of  God 
hath  sounded  forth ;  not  only  in  Macedonia  and 
Achaia,  but  in  every  place."  t  Dr  Clark  visited  the 
city  in  the  year  1801,  and  describes  many  ruins  of 
ancient  buildings  with  Roman  inscriptions.  Among 
others,  he  mentions  a  Turkish  mosque,  containing  an 
old  and  singular  marble  pulpit,  from  which,  tradition 
says,  Paul  preached  in  a  vault  under  ground. 

On  arriving  at  Thessalonica,  we  may  follow  in 
thought  the  weary  apostles  as,  after  their  long  journey 
of  90  or  100  miles,  and  still  suffering  under  their  re- 
cent tortures  at  Philippi,  they  approached  the  gates 
of  its  terraced  walls.  We  cannot  tell  whether  it  may 
then  have  possessed  the  same  striking  appearance  it 
presents  to  modern  travellers,  with  its  white-painted 
buildings,  its  walls  glittering  in  the  sun,  and,  in  a  calm 
day,  casting  their  pearly  shadows  in  the  beautiful  bay, 

*  Strabo.  f  l  Thcss.  i.  8. 


THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA.  199 

which,  whatever  changes  the  city  may  have  undergone, 
remains  the  same  now  as  when  Paul  and  his  friend 
gazed  on  its  sparkling  waves. 

On  arriving  in  the  city,  they  took  up  their  abode 
with  Jason,  a  Jewish  convert ;  by  some  supposed  to 
have  been  a  relative  of  the  apostle  ;*  by  others,  one 
of  "the  brethren"  to  whom  the  believers  in  Philippi 
had  given  him  "  letters  of  commendation."  For  three 
successive  Sabbaths  (Jewish  Sabbaths — our  Saturday) 
Paul  spoke  in  the  synagogue.  It  seems  to  have  been 
the  place  of  worship  to  which  the  Jews  all  around 
resorted ;  for,  in  speaking  of  it,  he  does  not  say,  "  where 
there  was  a  synagogue,"  but  "  the  synagogue."  The 
Israelites,  at  the  towns  of  Amphipolis  and  Apollonia, 
seem  to  have  been  too  few  or  too  poor  to  have  a  syna- 
gogue, or  even  a  proseucha  of  their  own,  and  to  have 
attended,  therefore,  the  one  at  Thessalonica.t  We 
may  picture  to  ourselves  the  Great  Apostle,  bearing  in 
his  body  some  new  and  recent  "marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,"  standing  up  in  this  Jewish  church,  on  the  first 
Sabbath  after  his  arrival,  to  speak  to  his  "brethren 
according  to  the  flesh." 

Thessalonica,  I  may  add,  is  as  celebrated  at  the  pre- 
sent day,  for  its  large  Hebrew  population,  as  it  was 
then;  for,  out  of  70,000  inhabitants,  more  than  one 
half  are  Jews.J  Of  these,  many  are  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  cloth  for  tents, — a  circumstance  which 
is  curious  in  connexion  with  the  employment  of  the 
apostle  during  his  present  residence,  and  to  which  wo 
shall  immediately  refer. 

If  you  read  the  letters  he  wrote  at  an  after  period 
to  the  Thessalonians,  you  must  be  struck  with  a  sub- 

*  Rom.  xvi.  21.  t  Kuinoel.  t  Dr  Kitto. 


200  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL, 

ject  which  he  dwells  much  upon  in  these,  viz.,  "the 
kingdom  and  second  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  You 
are  aware  that  the  Jews  had  long  looked  forward  to 
the  Messiah  as  a  great  temporal  deliverer.  Their 
country  was  now  under  the  Roman  yoke  ;  but  they 
clung  to  the  fond  hope  that  once  more,  under  the  pro- 
mised "  Prince  of  Peace,"  it  would  regain  the  indepen- 
dence and  glory  it  possessed  under  the  reign  of  David 
and  Solomon.  One  great  object  of  the  apostle,  both 
now  in  his  address  in  the  synagogue  and  in  his  future 
epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  was  to  correct  these  mis- 
taken ideas  about  the  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom.  He 
proved  to  them  from  their  own  prophecies  that  He  was 
to  come,  not  as  a  triumphant,  but  as  a  lowly  suffering 
Messiah  ;  and  that  though  a  King,  His  kingdom  was 
"not  to  be  of  this  world  :"  it  was  to  be  a  spiritual, 
not  a  temporal  one.  "  He  reasoned  with  them  out  of 
the  Scriptures  ;  opening  and  alleging  that  Christ  must 
needs  have  suffered  and  risen  again  from  the  dead ;  and 
that  this  Jesus,  whom  he  preached  unto  them,  was 
Christ."* 

As  I  have  just  hinted,  he  again  found  here  the  trade 
he  learned  in  his  boyhood  at  Tarsus  of  use  to  him. 
He  did  not  wish  to  be  "burdensome"  to  any,  and 
though  the  converts  at  Philippi  sent  him  on  two  occa- 
sions gifts  and  presents,  he  preferred  doing  what  he 
could  for  his  own  support.  It  is  interesting  to  think 
of  him,  evening  after  evening,  when  the  labour  of  teach- 
ing and  preaching  was  over,  seated  with  his  bundle  of 
goats'  hair  at  his  side,  busy  at  the  manufacture  of  the 
hair-cloth. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  striking  picture  to  see  the  holy  man 

*  Acts  xvii.  2,  3. 


fHESSALONICA  AND  BE11EA.  U(Jl 

of  God,  the  polished  scholar,  the  great  missionary,  not 
considering  himself  demeaned  in  taking  up  this  lowly 
occupation  ;  and,  though  still  severely  smarting  under 
the  stripes  he  received  at  Philippi,  bending  with  cheer- 
fulness over  his  laborious  task.  It  has  been  supposed, 
however,  that  at  this  time  the  apostle  must  have  been 
in  great  bodily  want.  Historians  of  that  period  men- 
tion a  famine  which  prevailed  throughout  Greece,  and 
which  raised  provisions  to  six  times  their  usual  price — 
a  peck  of  wheat  costing  in.  their  currency  four  shillings 
and  sixpence.*  But  the  many  kind  hearts  Paul  had 
left  behind  him  in  Philippi,  would  not  allow  him  at 
present  to  fall  into  straits ;  and  on  two  occasions  after- 
wards, we  shall  find  they  sent  some  Christian  messen- 
gers with  a  similar  supply  of  money.  "  Now,  ye  Philip- 
pians,  know  also,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  gospel, 
when  I  departed  from  Macedonia,  no  church  communi- 
cated with  me,  as  concerning  giving  and  receiving,  but 
ye  only.  For  even  in  Thessalonica  ye  sent  once  and 
again  unto  my  necessity."  t 

His  success  among  his  own  Jewish  countrymen  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  great  at  Thessalonica.  His 
converts  seem  to  have  been  principally  heathens  "  who 
turned  from  dumb  idols  to  serve  the  living  God." 
"  How  new  and  how  comforting  to  them  must  have 
been  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead ! 
What  a  contrast  must  this  revelation  of  life  and  im- 
mortality have  been  to  the  hopeless  lamentations  of 
their  own  pagan  funerals,  and  to  the  dismal  teaching 
which  we  can  still  read  in  the  sepulchral  inscriptions 
of  heathen  Thessalonica,  such  as  told  the  bystander 
that  after  death  there  is  no  revival,   after  the  grave 

*  Eusebius.  f  Phil.  iv.  15, 16. 


202  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

no  meeting  of  those  who  have  loved  each  other  on 
earth!"* 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  Paul,  in  commending 
the  new  doctrine  to  these  idolatrous  pagans,  made  use 
of  miracle  in  proof  of  his  Divine  commission.  In  writ- 
ing afterwards  to  them,  he  says,  "  Our  gospel  came  to 
you  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  That  word 
"power"  would  seem  to  imply  (as  elsewhere)  the  use 
of  extraordinary  and  miraculous  agency.  We  know 
that  he  did  not  deceive  them  by  any  bright  pictures  of 
earthly  or  carnal  glory.  He  did  not  say  that  if  they 
left  their  dumb  idols  they  would  become  great  and 
powerful  and  glorious  in  the  world.  It  was  quite  the 
reverse  *  for  he  writes  thus  afterwards,  "  Verily  when 
we  were  with  you,  we  told  you  before  that  we  should  suffer 
tribulation,  even  as  it  came  to  pass,  and  ye  know."t 

The  envy  of  the  Jews  was  stirred  up  against  these 
"  preachers  of  strange  doctrine."  The  scum  and  refuse 
of  the  city — "  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort," — that  is, 
a  number  of  those  dangerous  idlers  who  were  always 
found  in  a  place  like  Thessalonica,  hanging  about  the 
pier  and  the  forum  ready  to  join  in  any  tumult, — were 
easily  prevailed  on  to  take  part  in  this  assault  on 
the  innocent  apostles.  The  house  of  Jason  was  stormed, 
but  not  finding  their  victims  there  (they  having  been 
previously  warned  of  the  attack),  Jason  and  other 
Christians  were  seized  by  the  mob,  and  dragged  before 
the  magistrates.  They  were  accused  of  sedition  and 
rebellion,  of  harbouring  in  their  house  those  who  were 
preaching  treason  against  Caesar — speaking  of  another 
kingdom  and  another  King,  "  one  Jesus.""     They  thus 

*  Howson  and  Couybeare,  vol.  i.  p.  355. 

t  1  Thess.  iii.  3,  4.    See  Lewiu,  vcl.  i.  p.  256. 


THBSSALONIOA  AND  BEREA.  20o 

easily  perverted  Paul's  words  about  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  into  a  meaning  to  suit  their  own  purposes. 
The  magistrates  bound  them  over  to  keep  the  peace, 
taking  money  from  them  as  bail  or  security  in  the 
meantime,  that  the  quiet  of  the  town  should  not  again 
be  broken.  Paul  immediately  saw  with  a  sorrowful 
heart  that  it  would  be  needful  to  withdraw  elsewhere. 
The  rage  alike  of  the  multitude  and  the  Jews  was 
roused,  and  if  they  remained,  and  continued  to  preach 
the  gospel,  their  faithful  friends,  to  whom  they  were 
indebted  for  a  home,  would  be  sure  to  become  the 
victims  of  popular  fury.  He  would,  perhaps,  leave 
behind  him  with  his  inquiring  pagan  disciples,  as  the 
only  substitute  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  a  copy 
of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and  probably  the 
Gospel  of  St  Matthew,  the  only  one  of  the  four  inspired, 
histories  which  at  that  time  was  written.  It  is  to  this 
gospel  he  is  supposed  to  allude,  when  he  says  in  his 
future  letter,  "  But  of  the  times  and  the  seasons,  bre- 
thren, ye  have  no  need  that  I  write  unto  you.  For 
yourselves  know  perfectly,  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  so 
cometh  as  a  thief  in  the  night."  * 

We  are  not  told  to  what  extent  Jason  and  his  friends 
afterwards  suffered.  Though  the  magistrates  had  ac- 
cepted bail  from  them  in  the  meantime,  it  is  not  pro- 
bable they  would  be  freed  from  a  future  trial,  and  the 
result,  most  likely,  on  a  charge  of  aiding  those  guilty 
of  treason,  would  be  severe  fining,  or  else  the  forfeiture 
of  their  goods.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  know  that  the 
danger  of  the  apostles  was  so  great  that  the  very  night 
of  the  assault  they  were  obliged,  under  covert  of  dark- 
ness, to  leave  the  city. 

*  1  Thcss.  v.  1,  2.     Compare  with  this  Matt.  xxiv.  36-43. 


204  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Timothy,  probably,  may  now  have  rejoined  Paul. 
If  so,  he  would  accompany  him  and  Silas  at  their  de- 
parture. Passing  out  by  the  arch  at  the  western  gate, 
they  proceeded  fifty  miles'  distance  to  the  lovely  city 
of  Berea,  situated,  among  its  gardens,  streams,  and 
groves  of  palm  and  plane  trees,  on  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  chain  of  mountains  of  which  Olympus  is  the  chief. 

This  town  was  founded  by  one  Pheres,  and  called 
Pherea  ;  but  from  a  singular  difficulty  the  Macedo- 
nians had  in  pronouncing  the  Ph,  it  was  corrupted  by 
them  into  Berea.  The  modern  inhabitants,  however, 
who  work  in  the  red  marble  quarries  in  its  neighbour- 
hood, seem  able  to  pronounce  what  their  forefathers 
could  not,  for  it  has  resumed  the  name  of  Phcria* 

Berea,  at  the  time  the  apostle  fled  to  it,  was  a 
^ecluded  place.  It  was  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  great  Roman  road  (the  Via  Egnatia),  and  probably 
was  selected  by  him  and  his  companions  on  that  ac- 
count. Moreover,  being  in  another  district  of  Mace- 
donia, he  was  safe  from  the  power  of  the  proconsul  of 
Thessalonica. 

After  the  treatment  he  had  received  at  the  former 
city  from  his  Jewish  brethren,  we  could  not  have  won- 
dered, on  reaching  this  new  abode,  if  he  had  resolved  in 
all  time  to  come  to  preach  only  to  the  Gentiles.  But 
no;  he  was  far  too  true  a  patriot,  to  allow  ingrati- 
tude or  opposition  to  damp  or  cool  his  love  for  his 
countrymen;  "apostle  of  the  Gentiles"  as  he  was,  it 
was  still  with  him  "  to  the  Jew  first."  It  is  pleasing 
to  be  able  to  add,  that  the  encouragement  he  met  with 
among  his  countrymen  at  Berea  was  very  different  from 
that  which  he  received  at  Thessalonica.     He  found  the 

t  See  Wetstein  in  loco,  &c.,  quoted  by  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  265. 


THESSALON1CA  AND  BEJREA.  205 

Jews  there  "more  noble"  than  those  of  the  former 
city,  because  they  did  not,  like  the  others,  shut  their 
ears  against  the  truth,  but  "  searched  the  Scriptures" 
every  day,  comparing  the  prophecies  about  the  Messiah 
with  their  alleged  fulfilment  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Let  us  picture  to  ourselves  the  scene  in  the  Berean 
synagogue.  The  Rabbis  and  ministers,  attired  in  their 
flowing  robes,  hold  in  their  hands  the  well-thumbed 
scrolls  of  parchment  containing  the  writings  of  Moses 
and  the  Prophets.  The  apostle  directs  them  in  these 
to  reference  after  reference,  proving  that  Jesus  was 
indeed  the  Christ.  May  we  not  imagine  him  saying, 
"  Turn  to  your  roll  containing  our  old  prophet  Micatis 
predictions — you  will  find  there  mentioned  the  birth- 
place of  the  Messiah."  The  presiding  minister  reads 
aloud — "  But  thou,  Beth-lehem  Ephratah,  though  thou 
be  little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee 
shall  He  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be  Ruler  in 
Israel;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from- 
everlasting."*  "Jesus,"  Paul  maybe  supposed  to  say, 
"  was  born  there." 

"  Turn  again  to  your  Pentateuch-scroll,  and  you  will 
find  his  predicted  tribe, — '  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart 
from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet, 
until  Shiloh  come ;  and  unto  Him  shall  the  gathering 
of  the  people  be.'t  Our  Jesus,"  Paul  might  add, 
"was  born  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Turn  again," 
might  he  not  say,  "  to  our  great  prophet,  and  see  what 
Isaiah's  roll  says  about  his  royal  line, — 'And  there 
shall  come  forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a 

Branch  shall  grow  out  of  his  roots  : And  in 

that  day  there  shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse,  which  shall 

*  Micahv.  2.  f  Gen.  xlix.  10. 


206  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

stand  for  an  ensign  of  the  people;  to  it  shall  the  Gen- 
tiles seek:  and  his  rest  shall  be  glorious.'*  Jesus  was 
born  of  the  Virgin  Mar?/,  the  lineal  descendant  of 
David  !  Turn  again  to  the  prophet  of  Babylon — unroll 
the  parchment  of  DanieVs  prophecies — see  what  was 
the  time  your  Messiah  was  foretold  to  come, — '  Seventy 
weeks  are  determined  upon  thy  people,  and  upon  thy 
holy  city,  to  finish  the  transgression,  and  to  make  an 
end  of  sins,  and  to  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity, 
and  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness,  and  to  seal 
up  the  vision  and  prophecy,  and  to  anoint  the  most 
Holy.  Know  therefore  and  understand,  that  from  the 
going  forth  of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  to 
build  Jerusalem,  unto  the  Messiah  the  Prince,  shall  be 
seven  weeks,  and  threescore  and  two  weeks :  the  street 
shall  be  built  again,  and  the  wall,  even  in  troublous 
times.  And  after  threescore  and  two  weeks  shall  Mes- 
siah be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself :  and  the  people  of 
the  prince  that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city  and 
the  sanctuary;  and  the  end  thereof  shall  be  with  a 
flood,  and  unto  the  end  of  the  war  desolations  are 
determined.  And  he  shall  confirm  the  covenant  with 
many  for  one  week :  and  in  the  midst  of  the  week  he 
shall  cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease,  and 
for  the  overspreading  of  abominations  he  shall  make  it 
desolate,  even  until  the  consummation,  and  that  deter- 
mined shall  be  poured  upon  the  desolate.' t  Above  all, 
turn  again  to  Isaiah's  prophetic  roll,  and  read  the  very 
history  of  this  Jesus  whom  I  have  embraced  as  the  true 
Messiah, — 'For  he  shall  grow  up  before  him  as  a 
tender  plant,  and  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground :  he 
hath  no  form  nor  comeliness;  and  when  we  shall  see 

*  Isaiah  xi.  1,  10.  t  Daniel  ix.  24-27. 


THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA.  207 

him,  there  is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him. 
He  is  despised  and  rejected  of  men;  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief;  and  we  hid  as  it  were  our 
faces  from  him:  he  was  despised,  and  we  esteemed 
him  not.'"* 

Many  were  converted  ;  and  among  these,  Greeks  and 
heathens  as  well  as  Jews,  and  several  females  of  higher 
rank. 

But  the  apostle  was  learning  every  day  to  "cease 
from  man  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils."  He  was 
becoming  more  familiar  with  the  "much  tribulation" 
through  which  every  saint,  and  more  especially  every 
faithful  minister,  must  enter  into  glory.  The  "less 
noble"  Jews  at  a  distance,  stirred  up  with  envy  on 
hearing  of  his  success,  compelled  him  to  leave  a  city 
which  gave  promise  of  much  fruit.  He  saw  that  it 
would  be  hopeless,  from  the  furious  hatred  of  his  own 
countrymen,  to  remain  for  the  present  longer  in  Mace- 
donia. They  were  tracking,  like  bloodhounds,  his  foot- 
steps from  place  to  place  ;  he  would  be  sure,  humanly 
speaking,  to  fall  a  victim  to  their  malice ;  he  resolved, 
therefore,  to  quit  it  altogether,  and  make  for  the  near- 
est point  at  sea  where  he  could  take  a  vessel  to  some 
other  field  of  labour.  It  was  judged  advisable  to  leave 
Timothy  and  Silas  behind,  to  nurse  the  good  seed  which 
had  been  scattered.  But  how  could  the  persecuted 
apostle — perhaps,  too,  at  this  time  suffering  from  his 
eyesight — start  by  night  and  travel  through  an  un- 
known country  all  alone  ?  He  was  wearied  and  pained 
both  in  mind  and  body — his  stripes,  his  blindness,  his 
mental  sorrow  at  the  sadder  spiritual  blindness  of  his 
brethren, — all  forbade  a  solitary  journey.     His  friends 

*  Isaiah  liii.  2,  3. 


208  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

at  Berea,  in  these  circumstances,  undertook  to  convoy 
him  to  the  sea-shore.  They  conducted  him,  doubtless 
by  the  nearest  road,  close  by  the  woods  and  olive- 
groves  of  the  great  Olympus.  Olympus  was  the  spot 
celebrated  in  all  ancient  song  as  the  seat  of  the  gods. 
Jupiter,  whose  name  is  now  familiar  to  us  from  his 
temple  at  Lystra,  was  thought  to  have  his  throne 
there,  and  other  divinities  haunted  its  groves  and 
temples.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  Pagans  re- 
vered that  spot  as  the  most  sacred  on  earth.  Chris- 
tians may  look  back  with  interest  at  this  moment  of 
which  I  am  now  speaking,  not  to  the  snow-capped 
mountain  as  the  haunt  of  false  deities,  but  to  one  who 
was  now  passing  in  a  little  skiff  under  its  shadow. 
It  was  a  Jew  of  Tarsus  who,  by  the  power  of  the  great 
God  of  heaven  and  earth,  was  to  shatter  in  pieces 
many  a  shrine  and  temple  of  Olympian  Jupiter — "  to 
turn,"  in  a  sense  the  Thessalonian  Jews  never  dreamt 
of,  "the  world  upside  down,"  and  to  demonstrate  that 
there  was  "none  other  name  given  under  heaven  among 
men  by  which  the  sinner  could  be  saved,  but  the  name 
of  Jesus."  Paul's  companions  from  Berea  had  now 
returned  to  their  own  city,  taking  from  him  a  special 
message  to  Silas  and  Timothy  to  lose  no  time  in  fol- 
lowing him  to  the  south. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


fatil  at  %\\m$. 


"  Behold,  the  Apostle  of  the  Cross  sublime — 
The  warn'd  of  Heaven,  the  eloquent,  the  bold  ! 
Who  spake  to  Athens  in  her  hour  of  prime, 
Braving  the  thunders  of  Olympus  old, 
And  spreading  forth  the  Gospel's  snowy  fold 
Where  heathen  altars  pour'd  a  crimson  tide, 
And  stern  tribunals  their  decrees  unrollVl, — 
How  does  his  zeal  our  ingrate  coldness  chide ! " 

"  Who  can  calculate  the  mighty  influence  of  his  life  upon  maxims, 
upon  manners,  upon  literature,  upon  history, — in  short,  upon  the 
whole  development  of  humanity  ! " 


,"■.'"■;:  :'.;»:iii';:F' 


e  have,  in  former  chapters, 
followed  the  "  footsteps "  of  St 
Paul  into  regions  where  both  na- 
ture and  man  were  seen  in  their 
savage  state.  You  remember  the 
rugged  mountain -passes  of  Pisidia, 
and  the  still  more  rugged  hearts  of  the  Pagan  Lys- 
trians  1  We  lately  accompanied  him,  in  the  quiet  of  a 
Sabbath  morning,  to  a  river-side,  where  his  listeners 
were  a  handful  of  devout  females.  We  found  him,  im- 
mediately afterwards,  in  a  place  more  unpromising  still, 
when  an  inner  dungeon  and  a  jailer's  iron  soul  were 
made  as  "  the  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of  heaven." 
We  are  to  follow  him  now  to  a  grander  arena, — amid 
the  philosophers  and  wise  men  of  the  city  which  then 
ruled  the  world  of  mind  and  thought,  as  Rome  ruled 
the  outer  world  by  force  of  arms. 


212  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

We  can  easily  imagine  what  his  journey  thither 
would  be.  How  many  spots  of  classic  interest  would 
open  before  his  eyes !  After  passing  the  long  island  of 
Euboea,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Attica,  we  may  think 
of  him  standing  on  the  prow  of  his  vessel  and  gazing 
on  the  splendid  temple  of  Minerva,  on  the  height  of 
the  promontory  of  Sunium.  The  vessel  has  now  en- 
tered the  magnificent  bay  whose  waters  wash  the  south- 
ern shores  of  Attica.  Soon  a  glittering  object  catches 
his  eye  on  a  distant  rock  :  it  is  the  colossal  statue  of 
Minerva,  on  the  Acropolis,  with  a  helmet  on  her  head 
and  a  spear  in  her  hand,  made  out  of  the  brazen  shields 
and  spears  taken  at  the  battle  of  Marathon."'  Temples 
and  columns  gradually  unfold  themselves.  The  Great 
Apostle  has  got  his  first  glimpse  of  the  civilised  capital 
of  the  ancient  world — the  seat  and  centre  of  art,  elo- 
quence, philosophy,  and  science — Athens,  "the  eye  of 
Greece  !"  And  now  they  are  nearing  the  shore  : — to 
the  left,  he  sees  the  well-known  island  of  iEgina ;  to 
the  right,  that  which  has  given  its  own  name  to  one  of 
the  greatest  naval  battles  ever  fought — the  island  of 
Salamis.  Behind  it  rises  the  hill  of  Hymettus,  famed 
for  its  honey;  and  right  in  front,  as  you  see  in  the 
foreground  of  our  large  picture,  is  the  Pirceus,  the  port 
of  Athens,  with  its  two  high  moles  on  either  side. 
"  The  Piraeus,"  it  is  said,  in  a  graphic  description  of  it 
as  it  appeared  to  Paul  on  his  landing,  "  doubtless  re- 
tained many  of  the  outward  features  of  its  earlier 
appearance, — the  landing-places  and  covered  porticos ; 
the  warehouses  where  the  corn  from  the  Black  Sea 
used  to  be  laid  up;  the  stores  of  fish  brought  in  daily 

*  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  i.  p.  371.     The  picture  we  give  is  the 
"  Athena,"  from  the  Hope  collection. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  213 

from  the  Saronic  Gulf  and  the  ^Egean;  the  gardens  in 
the  watery  ground  at  the  edge  of  the  plain;  the 
theatres  into  which  the  sailors  used  to  flock  to  hear 
the  comedies  of  Menander."  *  The  city  and  port  are 
distant  from  one  another  about  five  miles.  Houses  had 
at  one  time  been  built  the  whole  way  between,  consist- 
ing of  one  narrow  street,  guarded  by  walls  of  sixty  feet 
in  height,  and  with  towers  in  various  parts  of  them. 
These,  however,  had  at  this  time  greatly  fallen  into 
decay,t  for  we  must  remember,  that  by  this  time  the 
political  greatness  of  Athens  had  ceased.  The  Roman 
eagles  had  hither,  as  elsewhere,  winged  their  flight,  and 
the  seat  of  government  had  been  changed  to  Corinth.J 
And  now  we  may  imagine  the  Great  Apostle  entering 
by  the  gate  of  the  Piraeus.  He  finds  himself  in  a  city 
of  temples — a  city  literally  "wholly  given  to  idolatry." 
Statues  of  Neptune,  Jupiter,  Ceres,  Minerva,  Apollo, 
Mercury,  and  the  Muses,  meet  his  eye  one  after  the 
other;  porticos,  too,  with  battle-pieces  painted  on 
their  walls,  and  bronze  figures  of  illustrious  Athenians. 
On  the  left  is  the  Pynx,  with  its  tribunal  cut  from  the 
solid  rock,  guarded  by  a  statue  of  Jupiter  and  the 
nymphs  of  the  Demus,  and  which  remains  to  this  day 
uninjured  by  the  ravages  of  time.  Passing  further  on- 
wards, the  statues  of  Conon,  Epaminondas,  and,  most 
illustrious  of  all,  Demosthenes,  meet  the  eye  of  the 
Christian  pilgrim.  The  soul  of  the  young  Tarsian,  in 
bygone  days  when  seated  at  Gamaliel's  feet,  had  doubt- 
less often  kindled  under  the  burning  words  of  the  Gre- 
cian orator, — now  he  was  gazing  on  the  statue  reared 

*  Howson  and  Conybeare,  vol.  i.  p.  375. 

t  Ibid.    See  the  entire  account  given  by  them  of  ancient  Athens. 

t  Dr  Kitto. 


214  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

on   the  very  spot  which   had   listened  to  his   living 
tones. 

It  would  weary  the  reader  to  dwell  on  this  colossal 
statue-gallery  through  which  St  Paul  now  walked. 
"Warriors  were  there — the  commanding  forms  of  Philip 
and  Alexander  of  Macedon,  Themistocles  and  Milti- 
ades ;  lawgivers  were  there — such  as  Solon,  standing  in 
front  of  a  portico  richly  adorned  with  the  recollections 
of  Troy  and  Marathon.  Well  was  it  said  of  Athens  by 
Petromus,  that  it  was  then  easier  to  find  in  it  an  idol- 
god  than  a  man.  How  striking  this  idol-crowded  capi- 
tal of  the  world  must  have  been  to  one  who  had  been 
so  much  in  Jerusalem  as  Paul,  where  not  so  much  as 
one  image  was  to  be  found  !  * 

The  Apostle  is  all  at  once  in  a  little  world  of  busy 
thought.  In  passing  along  the  great  central  street, 
the  citizens  are  listening,  or  gathering  in  groups  "  to 
hear  or  tell  something  new."  t  When  he  reaches  the 
end  of  this  thoroughfare,  with  colonnades  on  either 
side,  we  may  suppose  him  turning  to  his  right  hand 
into  the  Agora  or  market-place, — a  square  surrounded 
with  the  same  temple  buildings  and  shady  porticos  ; 
bazaars  filled  with  every  article  of  luxury  ;  circular 
booths,  some  for  the  sale  of  slaves,  others  for  provisions. 
Flowers  and  fruits  were  ranged  out  on  one  side  to  tempt 
the  eye,  and  books  and  parchments  on  another,  for 
those  who  preferred  food  for  the  mind.J      Students 


*  See  Mr  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  272,  with  authorities  referred  to. 

t  "Demosthenes  represents  the  Athenians  as  inquiring  in  the  place  of 
public  resort,  'If  there  were  any  news  ? '  Meursius  has  shown  also  that  there 
were  more  than  three  hundred  public  places  in  Athens  of  public  resort, 
where  the  principal  youth  and  reputable  citizens  were  accustomed  to  meet 
for  the  purpose  of  conversation  and  inquiry." — Barnes  On  the  Acts,  p.  293. 

%  Lewin. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  215 

from  all  quarters  of  the  world  might  be  found  there, 
taking  their  hours  of  recreation,  their  masters  standing 
close  by,  discussing  weighty  points  of  religion  and  phi- 
losophy. Right  in  front  were  the  rocky  crags  of  the 
Acropolis,  with  the  temples  and  statue  of  which  we 
have  already  spoken,  and  its  beautiful  Parthenon  built 
of  white  Pantelican  marble,  whose  remains  are  to  this 
hour  so  much  admired.  We  may  imagine  what  it 
must  have  been  then,  when  its  magnificent  friezes 
were  all  complete,  and  the  statue  of  the  goddess  Min- 
erva, from  the  hand  of  the  great  sculptor  Phidias, 
was  inside,  glittering  with  gold  and  ivory.  We  shall 
find  Paul  immediately  saying  in  his  address,  "  The 
Lord  of  heaven  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with 
hands  ; "  *  as  if  he  had  said,  "  If  any  temple  on  earth 
were  befitting  for  Him  to  dwell  in,  it  would  surely  be 
such  a  masterpiece  as  this." 

We  must  not  forget  to  note  two  of  the  buildings  in 
the  Agora.  They  were  the  Schools  of  Epicurus  and 
Zeno,  the  founders  of  the  two  sects  the  Epicureans  and 
Stoics,  to  whose  followers  the  Apostle  was  about  to  un- 
fold the  way  of  salvation. 

I  am  sure  our  young  readers  will  be  wearying  to 
hear  what  Paul  thought  of  this  great  city,  with  its 
temples  and  schools,  and  sculptures,  and  other  magni- 
ficent works  of  art.  He  had  a  mind  that  was  well  able 
to  enjoy  these  treasures  of  a  great  people;  but  the  God 
he  served  was  so  despised  and  neglected  in  the  midst  of 
all  this  light  of  nature  and  philosophy,  that  we  find 
the  only  effect  produced  upon  him  was,  "  His  spirit  was 
stirred  within  him,  because  it  was  a  city  wholly  given 
to  idolatry  ! "     He  himself  touchingly  says,  regarding 

*  Acts  xvii.  24. 


216  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

this  visit,  "  I  was  left  in  Athens  alone."  Timothy  and 
Silas  were  still  at  Berea.  We  may  well  imagine  the  feel- 
ings of  a  loDe  Christian  stranger,  without  one  single 
heart  to  share  his  sorrow,  pacing  the  streets  of  that 
mighty  capital,  and  feeling,  amid  all  the  glory  and 
world-wide  fame  of  its  people,  that  his  God  was  not  in 
fell  their  thoughts.  Somewhat  of  Jonah's  experience  in 
going  through  the  streets  of  Nineveh,  nine  hundred 
years  before,  must  have  been  that  of  Paul  of  Tarsus  now. 
If  anything  could  have  added  to  his  sorrow  and  grief, 
it  was  that  so  much  seemed  to  be  done  about  religion, 
while  the  unholy,  profane,  and  vicious  lives  of  the 
Athenians  showed  that  true  piety  had  no  place  in  their 
hearts.  Although  they  knew  something  about  a  deity, 
"  they  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither  were  thankful, 
but  they  became  vain  in  their  imaginations,  and  their 
foolish  hearts  were  darkened." 

Anxious,  however,  as  he  was  for  the  return  of  his  two 
fellow-labourers,  Paul  could  not  remain  idle  and  silent 
in  the  midst  of  the  stirring  scenes  and  throngs  around 
him.  Though  alone,  he  resolves  to  unfurl  the  Gospel 
banner. 

The  Apostle  first  of  all,  as  we  have  invariably  found 
him  doing  elsewhere,  sought  out  his  own  "brethren 
according  to  the  flesh."  He  commences  in  the  Jewish 
synagogue.  It  was  not,  however,  with  them  he  came 
hither  to  fight  the  battles  of  his  Heavenly  Master, 
but  with  the  teachers  of  those  false  systems  of  philo- 
sophy and  pagan  superstition,  which  had  then  in  Athens 
their  principal  seat,  and  which  formed  in  many  other 
places  the  main  hindrance  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel. 
We  may  follow  him,  therefore,  once  more  into  the  hum 
of  the  Agora  or  market-place,  going  from  one  group  to 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  217 

another  of  those  who  were  standing  or  strolling  under 
the  shady  plane-trees  or  porticos,  till  he  joined  in  the 
conversation,  and  introduced  the  great  subject  of  his 
thoughts  and  labours — "  Jesus  and  the  Resurrection  ! " 
How  was  his  preaching  listened  to  1  How  did  these 
proud  wise-men  receive  the  great  Christian  ambassa- 
dor 1  They  loved  oratory.  Demosthenes  and  ethers, 
by  their  marvellous  eloquence, 

"Wielded  at  will  that  fierce  democracy." 

How,  then,  will  the  Christian  orator  and  philosopher 
fare  when  he  unfolds  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  that 
were  "never  dreamt  of  in  their  philosophy?"  So- 
crates and  Plato  had  long  laboured  in  vain  to  discover, 
by  the  light  of  nature,  the  great  realities  of  the  future. 
Paul  is  about  to  unlock  the  wondrous  secret ;  to  reveal 
to  them  One,  who  is  at  once  the  "  power  of  God  and 
the  wisdom  of  God,"  the  "  Abolisher  of  death,"  the  "  Re- 
surrection and  the  life  ! "  How  will  they  receive  such 
doctrine  and  testimony  as  this  1  How  will  proud  rea- 
son be  content  to  seat  itself  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  of 
Jesus  ?  Doubtless  he  would  not  find  it  difficult  to  draw 
them  into  converse,  as  there  was  nothing  these  sharp 
and  keen  intellects  enjoyed  more  than  a  discussion 
upon  difficult  points,  and  all  the  better  if  these  were 
connected  with  some  new  religious  system.  Moreover, 
we  must  remember  that  Paul  was  not  altogether  un- 
prepared  to  meet  them,  as  Epicureans  and  Stoics  were 
found  in  abundance  in  his  own  native  town  of  Tarsus, 
where  doubtless  he  had  acquired  a  familiarity  with 
their  doctrines.  The  leading  doctrines  of  the  Epicareans 
were,  that  the  world  was  made,  not  by  an  Almighty 
Framer,  but  by  an  accidental  or  "  fortuitous  "  concourse 
of  atoms  ;  that  pleasure  was  the  highest  human  pursuit ; 


218  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

also,  that  the  soul  was  matter,  and  did  not  survive  the 
dissolution  of  the  body.  This  sect  were  truly  "  without 
God  and  without  hope."  The  Stoics  had  a  better  creed : 
they  believed  in  a  Supreme  Being,  the  creator  and  sus- 
tainer  of  all  things,  and  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ; 
but  they  had  dim  and  imperfect  notions  about  the 
character  of  a  future  state.  They  rejected  the  idea 
of  coming  punishment,  and  opposed  those  fundamental 
doctrines  of  Christianity  which  demanded  true  repent- 
ance, and  set  forth  the  nature  and  method  of  forgive- 
ness of  sin  and  justification  by  faith.* 

It  is  evident  that  Paul  was  not  long  in  gathering 
around  him  an  attentive  knot  of  hearers.  They  were 
struck  with  the  acuteness  of  the  Jewish  stranger.  He 
was  mean  in  his  bodily  appearance,  his  face  wan,  and 
his  garb  ragged;  his  speech  lacked  the  rich,  mellow, 
musical  tone  they  were  wont  to  hear.  But  he  was  no 
weakling  in  other  things.  Jew  as  he  was,  he  was  a 
scholar.  He  could  speak  their  pure  Attic  tongue — he 
could  quote  their  poets.  If  his  eyesight  was  at  times 
dim,  he  had  an  inner  taste  for  the  sublime  and  beauti- 
ful; for  he  conversed  with  them,  as  he  did  with  the  Lys- 
trians  years  before,  of  "  Him  who  had  made  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  and  the  sea ;  who  had  never  left  Him- 
self without  a  witness,  in  that  He  was  continually  doing 
them  good,  giving  them  rain  from  heaven,  and  fruitful 
seasons,  filling  their  hearts  with  food  and  with  glad- 
ness." Though  his  doctrines  were  strange,  he  defended 
them  well.  He  was  an  acute  reasoner.  Indeed,  they 
had  got  so  interested  in  his  conversation,  that  they  pro- 
posed he  should  go  with  them,  for  quiet  and  retirement, 
if  not  for  space,  to  the  top  of  the  Areopagus,  or  Mars' 

*  See  Neander,  p.  188. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  219 

Hill.  This  was  another  famous  spot  in  the  Athenian 
capital.  It  was  the  place  of  sacred  judgment ;  and  as  it 
was  especially  intended  as  a  place  of  arbitration  on  reli- 
gious matters,  it  was  all  the  more  suitable  for  hearino- 
the  new  doctrines  of  this  Christian  missionary.  We 
may  imagine  to  ourselves  the  spot  where  Paul  now 
stood  and  preached.  It  was  where  Pericles  and  many 
other  great  men  had  raised  their  voices  before  him. 
The  stone  seats  of  the  judges  hewn  out  in  the  rock 
were  in  front,  probably  occupied  now  with  Dionysius  and 
other  Areopagites,  who  were  the  noblest  of  Athenian 
citizens.  In  the  same  rock  was  the  reputed  sanctuary 
of  the  Furies,  which  gave  additional  awe  and  solemnity 
to  the  place ;  while  the  temple  of  Mars  rose  immediately 
in  view,  crowning  the  rock  to  which  it  gave  its  name. 
It  was  a  most  impressive  moment  in  the  history  of 
the  Christian  faith.  The  religion  of  the  despised  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  preached  at  first  by  a  few  humble  fisher- 
men of  Galilee,  now  finding  its  way  to  the  very  foun- 
tain-head of  the  world's  boasted  wisdom.  Paul  is 
placed  on  the  tribunal,  and  the  question  is  courteously 
put  to  him  by  this  courteous  people,  "  May  we  know 
what  this  new  doctrine  whereof  thou  speakest  is  1 — for 
thou  bringest  strange  things  to  our  ears.  We  would 
know,  therefore,  what  these  things  mean."  Christianity 
had  now  a  bold  and  fearless  advocate.  We  may  imagine 
him  standing  up,  his  face  and  countenance  worn  and 
sad  with  the  traces  of  recent  suffering  and  bonds,  and 
sadder  still  with  the  spectacle  of  godless  splendour  all 
around.  He  does  not  at  first  openly  attack  their  hea- 
then divinities ;  had  he  done  so,  they  would  at  once 
have  refused  to  listen.  He  tells  that  it  is  his  desire  to 
direct  them  to  the  God,  whom  all  their  religious  edi- 


220  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

fices  showed  they  were  "  in  ignorance  "  trying  to  "  wor- 
ship." He  applauds  the  strength  of  the  religions  feel- 
ing among  them — that  they  were  "  exceedingly  devout" 
(the  word  which  is  not  so  correctly  rendered  in  our 
translation  by  "  too  superstitious  ").  He  makes  some 
of  the  temples  and  their  inscriptions,  which  he  had  seen 
passing  along  the  street,  the  text  of  the  following  stir- 
ring address  : — 

"  Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all  things  ye 
are  too  superstitious.  For  as  I  passed  by,  and  beheld 
your  devotions,  I  found  an  altar  with  this  inscription, 
To  the  Unknown  God.  Whom  therefore  ye  igno- 
rantly  worship,  him  declare  I  unto  you.  God,  that 
made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein,  seeing  that  he 
is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  temples 
made  with  hands  :  neither  is  worshipped  with  men's 
hands,  as  though  he  needed  any  thing,  seeing  he  giveth 
to  all  life,  and  breath,  and  all  things;  and  hath  made 
of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the 
face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  before 
appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation ;  that 
they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel 
after  him,  and  find  him,  though  he  be  not  far  from 
every  one  of  us  :  for  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and 
have  our  being ;  as  certain  also  of  your  own  poets  have 
said,  For  we  are  also  his  offspring.*     Forasmuch  then 

*  Paul's  quotation  occurs  in  no  less  than  two  Greek  poets.  They  are  both, 
of  course,  celebrating  the  praise  of  Jupiter  (or  Jove),  the  king  of  their  gods. 
I  subjoin  a  translation  of  both,  given  by  Mr  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  2S4  :— 
**  He  animates  the  mart  and  crowded  way, 
The  restless  ocean  and  the  shelter'd  bay. 
Do  h  care  perplex  ?  is  lowering  danger  nigh  ? 
We  are  his  offspring,  ami  to  Jove  we  fly." — Aratus. 
"  Hail  !  unto  thee  may  mortals  lift  their  voice, 
For  we  thine  offspring  are.    All  things  that  creep 
Are  but  the  echo  of  tlic-Voice  divine." — ILnnn  aj  Ckanthes. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  221 

as  we  are  the  offspring  of  God,  we  ought  not  to  think 
that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto  gold,  or  silver,  or  stone, 
graven  by  art  and  man's  device.  And  the  times  of 
this  ignorance  God  winked  at  \  but  now  commandeth 
all  men  everywhere  to  repent :  because  he  hath  ap- 
pointed a  day,  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained; 
whereof  he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that 
he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead."* 

This  is  doubtless  only  an  outline  of  Paul's  oration ; 
but  what  a  scene  !  what  an  auditory  !  His  pulpit,  the 
tribunal  where  Socrates  had  once  spoken,  at  the  age 
of  seventy,  on  the  same  charge  of  introducing  strange 
gods — his  canopy,  the  intense  blue  of  an  Attic  sky — the 
craggy  mountains  all  around — the  blue  waters  he  had 
lately  crossed — the  crowded  monuments  of  art  before 
and  on  every  side  !  He  looks  above  them  all,  and  pro- 
claims that  his  "God,  who  made  the  world,  and  all 
things  therein,"  owns,  as  the  most  hallowed  of  tem- 
ples, the  hearts  of  those  who  devoutly  "  seek  "  Him  ; 
and  that  the  noblest  forms  their  marble  and  gold  and 
silver  can  assume,  are  poor  mockeries  of  the  majesty 
of  His  glory. 

It  has  been  thought  by  somet — and  the  opinion 
seems  not  unsupported — that  the  "  unknown  God  "  of 
which  he  speaks,  may  have  referred  to  none  other  than 
Jehovah,  the  living  and  true  God  of  the  Jews.  More- 
over, that  the  fact  of  no  statue  being  erected  on  that 
altar,  is  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  expressions 
which  Greek  writers  themselves  use  when  speaking  of 

*  Acts  xvii.  22-31. 

t  See  Cave,  p.  79,  with  references  to  Justin  Martyr,  Plutarch,  Tacitus, 
&c. 


222  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

the  God  of  Israel  (referring  to  his  spirituality  of 
nature), — e.  g.,  "  not  to  be  expressed  ; "  "  Him  that  may 
not  be  named  by  you ; "  the  "  All-hidden."  If  this 
were  the  case,  what  an  appropriate  and  significant  text 
was  Paul  thus  furnished  with  !  He  found  the  empty 
altar — he  places  upon  it  the  revelation  of  a  hidden 
God  ;  and,  better  still,  the  all-glorious  Sacrifice.  Jesus 
he  first  sets  forth  as  the  Saviour,  and  then  as  the 
Judge  !  The  existence  of  such  an  altar,  however,  may 
1)0  traced  to  an  altogether  different  cause.  It  may  be 
referred  to  the  custom  which,  in  the  Athenian  capital, 
was  not  unfrequent,  of  erecting  shrines  to  "  unknown 
deities."  "  At  Athens,"  says  Pausanias,  "  there  are 
altars  of  gods  which  are  called  '  the  unknown  ones.' " 
We  have  from  one  of  their  own  writers  a  singular 
account  of  how  one  of  these  was  reared  600  years  B.C. 
Laertius  informs  us  regarding  Epimenides,  that,  "  tak- 
ing white  and  black  sheep,  he  led  them  to  the  Areopa- 
gus, and  there  allowed  them  to  go  where  they  would, 
commanding  those  who  followed  them  to  sacrifice  to 
the  god  to  whom  these  things  pertained  {without  giv- 
ing the  name),  and  thus  to  allay  the  pestilence  from 
which  it  has  arisen."  He  adds,  that  "  at  this  day, 
through  the  villages  of  the  Athenians,  altars  are  found 
without  any  name."  * 

But  to  return  to  St  Paul.  Regarding  his  whole  ad- 
dress, it  has  been  well  said  by  a  writer  from  whom,  in 
this  chapter,  we  have  already  largely  drawn — "  Simple 
throughout  as  is  the  language  of  the  preacher,  yet,  in 
the  compass  of  these  few  words,  he  tells  them  the 
noblest  truths.      That  there  was  one  God;  that  He 

*  Diog.  Laer.  b.  i.  §  1 0,  quoted  by  Barnes  On  the  Acts. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  223 

dwelt  not  in  temples ;  that  the  world  was  not  only  made 
but  sustained  by  Him ;  that  all  mankind  were  of  one 
blood ;  that  they  had  fallen  away  from  righteousness  ; 
that  God  had  sent  His  Son  Jesus  to  redeem  them  ;  that 
He  had  raised  Him  from  the  dead  as  an  earnest  of  future 
life  ;  that  all  men  must  be  judged  at  the  last  day."* 

Beautiful  and  comprehensive,  however,  as  the  ad- 
dress of  the  apostle  was,  one  cannot  help  being  struck 
with  its  great  simplicity.  Although  in  the  presence  of 
the  world's  sages,  he  just  preaches  to  them  as  we  heard 
him  preaching  to  the  rude  Lystrians  or  the  fierce 
jailer!  There  is  no  display,  no  eloquence,  no  deep 
and  profound  reasoning.  In  writing  afterwards  to  his 
Grecian  converts,  he  explains  the  reason  of  this  un- 
adorned simplicity.  "  And  I,  brethren,  when  I  came 
to  you,  came  not  with  excellency  of  speech,  or  of  wis- 
dom, declaring  unto  you  the  testimony  of  God  :  for  I 
determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save 
Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified.  .  .  .  And  my  speech 
and  my  preaching  was  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's 
wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of 
power ;  that  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wisdom 
of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God."t  The  great  Ra- 
phael, I  doubt  not,  has  both  truthfully  and  strikingly 
treated  this  eventful  scene,  in  his  famous  cartoon  of 
"Paul  preaching  at  Athens:'  When  you  next  see  this 
well-known  picture,  if  you  begin  with  the  figures  at  the 
extreme  left,  and  go  gradually  round  to  those  on  the 
extreme  right,  you  will  observe  he  represents,  step  by 
step,  from  hardened  unbelief  to  full  and  perfect  faith. 
The  figures  on  the  left  are  frowning  with  indignation 

*  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  285. 

t  1  Cor.  ii.  1-5.— See  Blunt's  Lectures. 


224  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ^T  PAUL. 

on  the  new  preacher ;  those  next  in  order  are  beginning 
to  reason  with  one  another  j  the  next  are  arrested,  the 
next  convinced,  till  it  ends  with  the  hands  stretched 
out  in  "  believing  joy." 

The  Apostle  was  stopped  in  the  midst  of  his  dis- 
course. Some  (evidently  the  Epicureans)  laughed  and 
ridiculed,  saying,  "What  can  this  babbler  mean?" 
Others  (the  Stoics)  said  "  they  would  hear  him  at  some 
other  time."  They  affirmed  him  to  be  a  "  setter  forth 
of  strange  gods."  The  Greeks  had  gods  and  goddesses 
personating  every  passion  and  affection  of  the  soul,  such 
as  Pleasure,  Hope,  Shame,  Fear,  Peace,  Fame,  &c.  And 
when  Paul  spoke  of  "Jesus  and  the  Resurrection"  (Ana- 
stasis),  they  imagined  these  two  words  indicated  some 
novel  and  strange  deities  they  never  heard  of  before.* 
Lovers  as  they  were  of  "  mythology,"  the  punishment 
of  death  was  decreed  in  their  laws  against  any  person 
who,  without  authority  of  the  state,  would  presume  to 
introduce  a  new  divinity.  The  court  of  the  Areopagus, 
before  which  Paul  had  just  been  standing,  was  that 
which  was  empowered  to  pronounce  what  were  lawful 
objects  of  worship,  and  to  punish  those  who  ventured 
to  be  "  setters  forth  of  strange  gods."  By  it  Socrates 
had  the  cup  of  hemlock  put  into  his  hands,  which  he 
drank  without  a  murmur.t  They  seem,  in  the  present 
instance,  not  to  have  exercised  any  of  the  severities  of 
the  law  against  the  Apostle.    The  court  adjourned,  the 

*  Chrysostom,  Pausanias,  i.  17. 

t  If  Socrates,  "the  apostle  of  natural  reason,"  had  been  one  of  Paul's 
present  hearers,  who  knows  but  his  noble  soul  would  have  opened,  like 
the  sunflower,  to  the  light  of  life  !  Had  they  been  spoken  of  the  true  God, 
his  own  words  at  his  trial  were  worthy  of  the  Apostle  Paul  himself,  "  Ye 
men  of  Athens  !  I  am  obliged  to  you  and  thank  you,  but  I  must  obey  God 
rather  than  you." 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  225 

crowd  dispersed,  and,  so  far  as  we  know,  Paul  never 
again  preached  in  this  city.     We  read  only  of  two  con- 
verts which  he  made— "  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  and 
a  woman  named  Damaris."     But  who  can  tell  what 
precious  seed  may  have  been  sown  that  day  among 
those  who  hung  on  the  lips  of  the  apostle  of  Jesus  1 
Who  can  tell  what  thoughts  they  may  have  carried 
away  with  them  to  their  homes,  as  they  remembered 
the  closing  sentences  of  the  solemn  appeal,  that  "  God 
had  appointed  a  day  in  which  he  would  judge  the  world 
in  righteousness  by  that  Man  whom  he  had  ordained"? 
The  expression  used  regarding  his  few  Athenian  con- 
verts is  worthy  of  note  :     "  Howbeit,  certain  men  clave 
unto  him."     It  must  have  cost  them  a  strong  effort  to 
be  wrenched  away  from  an  idolatry  to  which  they  were 
so  attached ;  but,  having  made  the  bold  resolution  to 
forsake  all  and  follow  Jesus,  their  faith  was  strong,  and 
they  were  enabled  "to  cleave  to  the  Lord  with  full 
purpose  of  heart."     It  is  of  the  nature  of  faith  to  grow 
out  of  difficulties.     We  have  reason  to  conclude  that 
the  saints  in  Nero's  palace,   of  whom  we  shall  after- 
wards hear,  were  the  most  devoted  converts  in  Rome  ; 
they  had  much,  in  their  exalted  station,  to  endure  for 
the  sake   of  Jesus ;  and,  unless  their  faith  had  been 
strong  and  vigorous,  they  would  not  so  readily  have 
suffered  the  loss  of  "all"  for  it.     So  also  with  the 
converts  at  Athens.     We  may  well  believe  that  an 
Areopagite,  a  member  of  that  proud  court  of  philoso- 
phers, would  not,  on  slight  grounds,  have  taken  the 
publican's  place  at  the  cross  of  a  crucified  Redeemer. 
Regarding  Dionysius,  we  have  no  further  information. 
If  we  can  credit  the  traditions  of  historians  respecting 
him,  he  had  been  a  witness,  when  in   Heliopolis  in 
p 


226  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Egypt,  of  the  supernatural  darkness  which  attended  the 
Saviour's  crucifixion,  and,  on  beholding  it,  exclaimed, 
"  Either  the  God  of  nature  suffers,  or  the  frame  of  the 
world  will  be  dissolved."  If  aught  of  this  tradition  be 
true,  his  mind  had  received  a  previous  training  for  the 
happy  result  which  made  an  Athenian  philosopher 
become  a  lowly  disciple  of  Jesus.  He  was  said  after- 
wards to  have  been  appointed  over  the  Church  at 
Athens,  and  to  have  crowned  his  labours  with  an 
heroic  martyrdom,  being  burnt  alive  in  the  same  city, 
in  the  year  93.* 

When,  however,  we  witness  the  effect  of  the  Apostle's 
labours  and  eloquence  in  a  city  of  wise  men,  we  see 
how  true  is  the  Bible  saying,  that  "  the  world  by  wis- 
dom knew  not  God,"  and  that  "not  many  mighty, 
not  many  noble,  not  many  wise  after  the  flesh,  are 
called."  Paul's  abode  at  Athens  was  only  for  a  short 
season.  Originally  he  does  not  seem  to  have  had  any 
intention  to  be  there  at  all.  He  landed  at  Philippi, 
with  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the  cities 
and  villages  of  Macedonia ;  but,  having  been  obliged 
to  flee  by  night  from  Berea,  he  had  taken  refuge  at 
Athens  till  he  was  rejoined  there  by  Silas  and  Timothy. 
At  last  Timothy  arrives.  It  is,  however,  with  no 
cheering  tidings.  The  rage  of  the  Jews  at  Thessa- 
lonica  is  still  unabated,  and  Paul's  fervent  desire  to 
return  could  not  be  attempted  without  endangering  his 
life.  What  was  to  be  done  1  The  good  Apostle  could 
not  bear  the  thought  of  his  dear  Thessalonian  converts 
being  left  "  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd ; "  and  there- 
fore, young  though  Timothy  was,  and  ill  as  he  could 
spare  his  company,  Paul  resolved  to  remain  "  at  Athens 

*  See  Blunt's  Lectures,  p.  260,  Cave,  Calmet. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  221 

thus  alone,"  sending  him  back  to  comfort  them,  and 
bring  him  tidings  of  their  welfare.  Listen  to  his  own 
words  in  the  letter  he  sends  to  them  : — "  We  would 
have  come  unto  you  (even  I  Paul)  once  and  again.  .  .  . 
Wherefore,  when  we  could  no  longer  forbear,  we 
thought  it  good  to  be  left  at  Athens  alone,  and  sent 
Timotheus,  our  brother,  and  minister  of  God,  and  our 
fellow-labourer  in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  to  establish  you, 
and  to  comfort  you  concerning  your  faith."* 

After  remaining  some  time  in  Achaia,  preaching  the 
Gospel,  the  Apostles  passed  over  to  the  adjoining  city  of 
Corinth, 

*  1  These,  ii.  18;  iii.1,3. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


fmtl  at  €atk% 


"  They  have  mocked 

At  Heaven's  high  messenger,  and  he  departs 

From  the  mad  circle.     Athens  !  is  it  so  1 
******* 

Thou  who  didst  smile  to  find  the  admiring  world 
Crouch  as  a  pupil  to  thee,  wert  thou  blind  ? 
Blinder  than  he,  who,  in  his  humble  cot, 
With  harden'd  hand,  his  daily  labour  done, 
Turneth  the  page  of  Jesus  and  doth  read] 
Yet  shall  that  poor  wayfaring  man  lie  down 
With  such  a  hope  as  thou  couldst  never  teach 
Thy  kingdike  sages  !  "  f 

"  His  letters  (say  they)  are  weighty  and  powerful." — 2  Cor.  x.  10. 

"  St  Hierom  cries  him  up  as  a  great  master  of  composition  ;  that  as 
oft  as  he  heard  him,  he  seemed  to  hear,  not  words,  but  thunder." — 
Cave,  1676. 


w& 


*fc 


'■^  e  must  now  follow  our  Apostle  to 
another  renowned  capital  of  Greece. 
On  the  narrow  isthmus  which,  like 
a  bridge,  connected  the  northern  and 
southern  divisions  of  this  ancient  kingdom,  was  situ- 
ated the  city  of  Corinth,  well  called,  by  an  old  writer, 
"  the  city  of  the  two  seas."  Again  and  again  had 
Corinth  been  strongly  fortified  by  high  walls  to  resist 
invaders  from  either  side.  Nature,  too,  supplied  her 
with  noble  fortifications.  There  is  one  lofty  rock  espe- 
cially, on  the  south,  called  Acro-corinthus,  with  the 
temple  of  Venus  on  its  summit,  which  still  towers  to 
a  height  of  two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  overlooking  the  city.  From  its  ridge  a  magnifi- 
cent view  is  obtained  on  every  side.  At  a  distance  of 
forty-five  miles  the  Athenian  Acropolis  might  be  dis- 
tinctly seen,*  and  appearing  in  that  clear  atmosphere 

*  Couybeare  and  Howson. 


230  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

not  to  be  nearly  so  far  off  as  it  really  was.  There  was 
a  spacious  harbour  on  either  side  of  the  isthmus,  in 
which  ships  of  commerce  from  every  shore  might  be 
seen  riding  at  anchor,  Cenchrea  in  the  east,  and  Le- 
chasum  in  the  west.  Lechteum  was  nearest  the  city, 
and  was  very  much  to  Corinth  what  the  Pirceus  was  to 
Athens,  a  range  of  long  walls  connecting  them  together. 
Corinth  itself  was  more  especially  noted  for  its  metals, 
dyes,  and  porcelain ;  *  while  the  far-famed  Isthmian 
Games  attracted  thousands  upon  thousands  every  year 
from  all  parts  of  Greece,  and  gave  a  celebrity  to  the 
spot,  independent  of  every  other  claim. 

The  ancient  city  had  been  entirely  destroyed  before 
Paul's  time.  The  citadel  on  Acro-corinthus  had  been 
burnt  to  ashes,  and  the  numerous  statues  that  studded 
the  rock  being  melted  on  that  occasion  by  the  heat, 
formed  in  their  fused  state  the  well-known  and  highly- 
prized  "  Corinthian  brass."  The  town  lay  thus  in  ruins 
for  one  hundred  years ;  but  Julius  Ccesar,  seeing  its  ma- 
ritime importance,  built  it  afresh,  and  peopled  it  with  a 
Eoman  colony  of  freedmen,  among  whom  doubtless 
were  many  Jews.t  When  Paul,  therefore,  now  visited 
it,  it  had  been  restored  to  its  former  splendour;  not 
only  were  its  buildings  gorgeous,  and  its  wealth  great, 
but  its  population  was  vast  and  varied,  consisting  of 
Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans. 

We  cannot  imagine  a  greater  contrast  than  existed, 
at  the  period  of  which  we  write,  between  the  cities  of 
Athens  and  Corinth.  The  one  was  the  renowned 
centre  of  learning,  venerable  with  age,  art,  and  worldly 
wisdom  ;  the  other  was  a  magnificent  mercantile  capi- 
tal, far  exceeding  the  former  in  wealth  and  population, 

*  Conybeare  and  Howson.  t  Strabo,  viii.  6. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  231 

but  without  any  pretensions  to  learning  or  philosophy. 
In  its  splendid  harbours  would  be  seen  riding  the  ships 
of  all  nations,  and  particularly  Roman  vessels, — the 
town  being  included  in  the  empire  of  the  Caesars. 

We  may  picture  the  Great  Apostle  approaching  this 
city  after  his  residence  at  Athens.  As  he  travels  along 
the  isthmus,  he  must  have  witnessed,  in  passing,  the 
celebrated  Stadium  and  Theatre  where  those  famous 
games  were  celebrated,  to  which  he  has  such  frequent 
reference  in  the  course  of  his  writings.  If  his  mind 
had  not  been  so  familiarised  with  the  splendid  sculp- 
ture of  Athens,  he  could  not  fail  to  be  struck  with  the 
long  line  of  busts  and  statues  erected  along  the  road  in 
honour  of  the  victors  in  these  world-renowned  meetings, 
— the  temple  of  Neptune,  with  its  sacred  grove,  over- 
looking them  all.*  Avenues,  or  clumps  of  pine,  shaded 
or  beautified  the  highway, — those  very  trees  which 
yielded  the  "corruptible"  wreaths  which,  in  an  after 
letter  to  Corinth,  he  so  touchingiy  contrasts  with  the 
better  "  crowns  of  glory,"  in  the  Christian  race,  which 
"  never  fade  away."  t  Close  to  the  gate  was  a  mo- 
nument to  the  memory  of  Diogenes  the  cynic.  The 
traveller  entered  the  city,  and  the  market-place  opened 
to  his  view.  In  the  centre  was  a  bronze  Minerva,  and 
around  were  temples  and  statues,  and  a  fountain  gush- 
ing from  "  the  mouth  of  a  dolphin  supporting  the 
figure  of  Neptune."  J  Corinth,  at  that  time,  was  one 
of  the  most  expensive  places  to  reside  at  in  the  east  of 
Europe, — so  much  so,  that  it  was  a  common  proverb, 
"  Not  every  man  can  go  to  Corinth."  Alas  !  alas  !  if 
Paul's  spirit  was  stirred  within  him  in  Athens,  because 
it  was   wholly  given  to   idolatry,  much   more   must 

*  See  the  picture.  f  1  Cor.  ix.  25.  J  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  299. 


232  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

he  have  mourned  and  grieved  over  a  city  wholly  given 
to  vice  in  its  most  debasing  form.  If  we  have  likened 
Thessalonica  to  our  modern  Liverpool,  the  comparison 
made  by  a  writer,  of  Corinth  to  modern  Paris  (in  its  worst 
aspect)  is  perhaps  an  equally  truthful  one.  It  was  the 
world's  fashionable  capital — full  of  show  and  glitter — 
but  all  this  gilding  covering  corruption  in  its  worst 
form. 

What  perhaps  at  first  attracted  the  Apostle  the  more 
to  it,  was  the  number  of  Jews  who,  on  account  of  a 
severe  edict  of  Claudius  Caesar,  had  been  recently 
expelled  from  Rome,  and  had  there  taken  up  their 
abode.  The  Hebrew  population  in  Borne  had  for  long 
— as,  we  know,  is  still  the  case  there — occupied  a  "Jew- 
ish Quarter,"  where  they  were  allowed  to  have  their 
own  "  oratories,"  similar  to  what  we  found  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Philippi.  The  cause  of  their  present  ex- 
pulsion we  give  in  the  remarkable  words  of  the  his- 
torian Suetonius: — "The  Jews,  who  were  constantly 
exciting  tumults  (Chrestus  being  the  mover),  he 
banished  from  Rome."  The  word  "  Chrestus"  is  more 
than  probably  intended  for  Christus,  or  Christ.  The 
Roman  historian,  who  was  not  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  Jewish  religion,  might  easily  fall  into  the 
mistake  of  speaking  of  a  tumult  occasioned  under 
Christ,  when  it  was  only  about  Christ.*  There  were 
other  causes,  however,  which  operated  in  rousing  the 
jealousy  of  the  emperor.  Judea  itself  had  been  in  a 
state  of  revolt  from  the  Roman  power  at  this  very 
time.  Tacitus  informs  us,  among  other  acts  of  vio- 
lence, of  a  royal  servant,  named  Stephen,  being  as- 
saulted  by  a  gang    of  Jewish  thieves,   the    baggage 

*  Lactantius. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  233 

plundered,  and  the  Roman  soldiers  killed  who  were 
appointed  to  guard  it*  When  so  great  an  enmity 
existed  bet  wen  the  nations,  the  authorities  deemed  it 
unsafe  to  permit  so  many  of  the  Hebrew  people  to 
remain  with  the  walls  of  the  capital ; — hence  the  edict 
for  their  expulsion,  which  had  brought  so  many  of 
them  at  present  to  Corinth.  Among  these  banished 
Jews  were  two  natives  of  Pontus,  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla.  As  we  learn  afterwards  that  they  returned  to 
the  city  of  the  Tiber,  we  may  gather  that  the  lat- 
ter formed  their  regular  place  of  residence.  They 
were  by  trade  tent-makers,  and  probably  had  made 
money  by  their  profession.  In  consequence  of  their 
expulsion,  like  others,  they  had  been  making  their 
way  to  their  native  place,  Pontus,  in  Asia,  by  way  of 
the  Corinthian  isthmus,  when  all  at  once,  for  reasons 
we  are  not  told,  they  paused  at  the  Grecian  capital, 
and  hired  a  house  and  workshop.  Perhaps  the  riches 
and  extent  of  Corinth  gave  promise  of  a  nourishing 
trade. 

It  is  more  than  likely  that  it  was  their  trade  also 
which  induced  Paul  to  take  up  his  abode  with  them, 
that  he  might  the  more  easily  obtain  his  own  liveli- 
hood. As  there  were  Jews  from  Pontus  who  heard 
Peter  preach  his  first  sermon,t  it  is  very  possible 
Aquila  and  Priscilla  may  have  first  heard  of  the  Mes- 
siah from  the  lips  of  that  apostle.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
it  does  not  seem  that  they  were  converted  to  the  truth 
when  Paul  first  went  to  reside  with  them;  but  it  was 
while  carrying  on  their  joint  labours  at  their  tent- 
looms,  that  they  were  led  cordially  to  embrace  the  sal- 
vation of  the  Gospel.     It  does  indeed  give  us  a  beauti- 

*  Whitby's  Annotations.  t  Acts  ii.  9. 


234  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

ful  specimen  of  Gospel  humility,  as  well  as  a  pattern 
for  duty  in  every  sphere  of  life,  to  see  this  great  man, 
who  had  so  lately  been  keeping  company  with  Athenian 
philosophers,  now  plying  his  needle  on  the  rough  hair- 
cloth along  with  two  refugee  Jews  ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  during  these  hours  of  hard  and  laborious  toil, 
unfolding  the  riches  of  the  great  salvation!  If,  as 
some  suppose,  Aquila  and  Priscilla  had  a  workshop  at 
Corinth,  with  a  number  of  workmen  employed,  we  may 
well  believe  that  Paul  would  form  among  them  his 
"  church  in  the  house," — preaching,  as  he  advised  an- 
other, "  in  season  and  out  of  season," — "  becoming  all 
things  to  all  men,  if  by  any  means  he  might  gain 
some."  At  all  events,  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla  he 
now  commenced  a  sacred  friendship,  which  lasted  till 
the  Apostle's  death.  This  is  not  the  last  time  we  shall 
find  their  names  and  Christian  deeds  mentioned  to- 
gether. 

There  was  another  new  kind  of  ministerial  labour 
St  Paul  undertook  in  the  midst  of  his  handicraft. 
His  mind  often  wandered  back  in  fond  solicitude  to 
his  beloved  Thessalonian  converts.  He  is  prevented 
seeing  them  or  visiting  them ;  but  he  resolves  to 
write  them  a  Letter ;  and  this  brings  us  to  a  most  inter- 
esting period  of  the  Apostle's  history, — the  composing 
of  the  first  of  those  inspired  Epistles,  which  have  so 
cheered  and  comforted  the  Church  in  every  age. 
"  You  yourself,"  says  an  able  living  writer,  who  in- 
herits much  of  the  great  Apostle's  spirit,  "  have  never 
had  any  connexion  with  St  Paul  but  by  his  writings, 
and  yet  you  seem  to  know  him  personally.  So  much 
of  life  and  heat  palpitate  in  his  words,  that  it  only 
seems  necessary  to  touch  the  hand  in  order  to  feel  the 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  235 

pulsations  of  that  heart  which  has  ceased  to  beat  for 
eighteen  hundred  years."  *  What  a  blessed  consola- 
tion every  Christian  feels  it,  at  a  time  of  bereavement 
or  sorrow,  to  receive  a  letter  of  sympathy  and  solace 
from  a  loved  friend  !  How  interesting  for  us  to  read 
the  first  of  such  letters  ever  written!  It  is  from  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  to  the  Church  at  Thessalonica. 
It  would  do  well  for  my  young  readers  to  take  up  their 
Bibles  and  peruse  this  Epistle  for  themselves.  I  shall 
merely  tell  you  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was 
composed  : — Timothy  and  Silas,  you  will  remember, 
had  been  left  in  Macedonia ;  Paul — alone  in  Athens — 
had  been  wearying  much  for  their  return ;  and  his 
anxiety  for  their  coming  was  increased,  as  he  dreaded 
lest  his  converts  in  Thessalonica  might  be  beginning  to 
fall  away,  and  be  forgetful  of  their  "  first  love."  He 
tells  us  he  was  now  among  the  Corinthians  "  in  weak- 
ness, and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling.'*  He  may 
have  felt  the  almost  hopeless  wickedness  of  this  disso- 
lute city,  and  despaired  of  making  any  progress  in  his 
great  work.  At  last  Timothy  and  his  companion  did 
return.  The  Apostle  was  indeed  glad  to  see  them.  In 
addition  to  his  other  trials,  he  must  have  been  suffer- 
ing much  from  the  famine  at  that  time  prevalent  in 
Greece ;  and  we  know  he  refused  to  his  dying  day  to 
receive  any  pecuniary  assistance  from  the  Corinthian 
Church,  lest  they  might  accuse  him  of  unworthy 
motives.  These  two  faithful  brethren  brought  him 
relief  from  Macedonian  Christians.  We  find  him  thus 
referring  afterwards  to  his  circumstances,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Corinthians  : — "  And  when  I  was  present  with 
you,  and  wanted,   I  was  chargeable  to  no  man  :   for 

*  A.  Monod's  Discourses,  p.  31. 


236  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

that  which  was  lacking  to  me  the  brethren  which  came 
from  Macedonia  supplied ;  and  in  all  things  I  have 
kept  myself  from  being  burdensome  unto  you,  and  so 
will  I  keep  myself."*  Timothy  and  Silas  also  brought 
the  Apostle  cheering  tidings  about  the  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  those  he  had  so  recently  left.  Paul,  with  a 
joyful  heart,  employed  what  time  could  be  spared  from 
his  other  labours  in  writing  "  The  First  Epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians."  In  it  he  expresses  his  joy  and  affec- 
tionate regard  for  them ;  and  sends  some  salutary  warn- 
ings, urging  them  still  to  remain  faithful  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  persecutions  which,  for  the  sake  of  Christ, 
they  were  called  to  endure. 

He  had  commenced  his  labours  in  Corinth  by  preach- 
ing to  the  Jews ;  but  here,  far  more  than  in  any  other 
place,  was  their  envy  and  hatred  manifested  against 
him,  and  against  that  holy  Name  he  loved  to  proclaim. 
So  much  so,  that  at  last,  with  a  heavy  heart,  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  their  synagogue  altogether,  shaking 
off  the  dust  from  his  garment — the  expressive  testi- 
mony used  in  these  times  against  the  hardened  and 
reprobate.  "  And  when  they  opposed  themselves,  and 
blasphemed,  he  shook  his  raiment,  and  said  unto  them, 
Your  blood  be  upon  your  own  heads ;  I  am  clean :  from 
henceforth  I  will  go  unto  the  Gentiles."  t 

He  and  his  two  friends,  who  had  now  joined  him, 
and  were  strengthening  his  hands,  set  themselves  to 
procure  another  place  of  meeting  where  they  might 
address  the  Gentiles,  and  such  Jews  as  still  chose  to 
attend  their  ministrations.  There  was  a  house  or 
room,  next  door  to  the  synagogue,  which  belonged  to 
a  proselyte  called  Justus.     This  became  hereafter  the 

*  2  Cor.  si.  9.  t  Acts  xviiL  6. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  237 

place  of  the  Apostle's  preaching.  He  seemed  still  to 
continue  his  residence  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla ;  but 
their  house  had  probably  no  space  to  contain  the  in- 
creasing worshippers.  Among  those  who  became  con- 
verts, under  his  instructions,  were  Stephanas  and  his 
family,  who  is  called  by  him  "the  first-fruits  of  Achaia 
unto  Christ."  A  more  important  and  influential  con- 
vert still,  was  Crispus,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue, 
whose  high  character  and  office  must  have  added  great 
weight  and  influence  to  his  adoption  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus.  These,  and  other  things,  caused  the  rage  of  the 
Corinthian  Jews  to  increase.  It  bowed  down  Paul's 
spirit  with  grief,  to  see  that  his  worst  foes  were  those 
of  his  own  brethren  and  household.  It  was  at  this 
trying  time  he  wrote  his  "  Second  Epistle  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians"  in  which  he  refers  to  (what  he  seldom  cares 
dwelling  upon)  his  own  vexations  and  sorrows  on  their 
account,  and  requests  an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  this 
distant  church. 

There  was  One,  at  least,  who  was  at  this  moment  no 
unconcerned  witness  of  His  servant's  struggles  and  con- 
flicts :  God  himself  had  seen  how  sorely  and  heavily 
his  spirit  had  been  weighed  down.  He  appeared  to 
him  in  the  middle  of  the  night  in  a  vision,  and  spake 
"  comforting  words" — telling  him  not  to  be  afraid,  nor 
to  hold  his  peace,  for  that  He  would  uphold  and 
strengthen  him  in  the  midst  of  every  difficulty;  and 
all  the  more  so,  "as  He  had  much  people  in  that 
city."* 

It  may  be  well  here  to  peruse  the  Second  Epistle  to 
the  Thessalonians.  The  messenger  he  had  sent  with 
the  First  Epistle,  had  just  returned  with  the  singular 

*  Acts  xviii.  10. 


238  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

tidings  that  the  Thessalonians  had  taken  up  the  strong 
impression  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand. 
You  will  find  that  one  of  the  main  objects  of  this 
second  letter  was  to  correct  these  erroneous  views 
which  many  of  the  converts  had  been  entertaining 
about  the  second  coming  of  Christ ;  some  of  whom 
were  even  giving  up  their  daily  trades,  under  the  im- 
pression that  the  Lord  was  about  to  appear.  The 
Apostle  assures  them  how  false  this  expectation  was; 
for  that  great  advent  could  not  take  place  until  sundry 
events  had  occurred,  of  which  he  had  often  before 
r   spoken. 

We  need  only  further  add,  with  reference  to  the 
Apostle,  that  he  seems  to  have  continued  his  residence 
in  Corinth  for  the  space  of  eighteen  months ;  during 
that  time  visiting  various  places  in  Achaia,  and  par- 
ticularly Cenchrea,  the  busy  seaport  on  the  opposite 
shore  of  the  isthmus.  It  was  an  important  and  inter- 
esting period  in  his  history,  and  an  important  spot  in 
the  civilised  world.  It  was  either  from  Corinth,  or  to 
Corinth,  that  his  choicest  epistles  were  written.  The 
numbers  of  his  converts  there  seem  to  have  been  very 
considerable.  He  speaks,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
of  the  churches  in  Corinth ;  and  there  would  appear  to 
have  been  a  special  church  in  Cenchrea,  for  Phoabe  is 
described  as  deaconess  of  it.* 

It  was  near  the  end  of  this  year  and  a-half  to  which 
we  have  referred,  that  Gallio  was  made  governor  (or 
proconsul)  of  the  province,  by  Claudius  Csesar.  He 
was  the  adopted  son  of  Junius  Gallio.  Who  had  been 
in  the  office  before  him,  we  are  not  told;  but  whoever 
he  was,  he  must  have  been  lenient  towards  the  Chris- 

*  Rom.  xvi.  1. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  239 

tians,  else  Paul  could  not  have  continued  undisturbed 
in  his  teaching  and  preaching  for  so  long  a  period  as 
eighteen  months.  I  need  not  say  that  the  comfort  and 
well-being  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  Roman  province 
greatly  depended  on  their  governor.  The  Corinthians 
and  Achaians  had  obtained  in  Gallio  one  who  was  re- 
markably distinguished  for  his  kindness,  integrity,  and 
honour.  Roman  writers  tell  us,  just  what  we  should 
have  expected  from  what  we  know  of  him  in  sacred 
story,  that  he  was  a  man  of  gentle  and  amiable  dispo- 
sition, besides  being  of  superior  abilities.  Seneca,  his 
own  brother,  who  had  the  responsible  office  of  tutor  to 
the  young  Emperor  Nero,  speaks  of  him  as  "  without 
a  fault,  whom  every  one  loved  too  little,  even  he  who 
loved  him  to  the  utmost.  In  him  there  was  such  a 
natural  power  of  goodness,  that  there  was  no  semblance 
of  art  or  dissimulation."  *  The  Jews,  whose  envy  we 
have  already  found  was  stirred  up  against  Paul,  were 
anxious  to  test  what  the  feelings  of  the  new  proconsul 
were  to  themselves  and  their  religion ;  or  knowing  per- 
haps his  easy  and  obliging  temper,  they  thought  they 
might  presume  upon  it  for  the  overthrow  of  an  adversary 
they  hated.  They  resolved,  therefore,  to  accuse  the  Apos- 
tle at  Gallio's  judgment-seat.  They  were  enabled  with 
greater  plausibility  to  do  so,  as  their  religion  was  pro- 
tected to  them  by  Roman  statute,  and  they  could  charo-e 
him  with  doing  violence  to  the  laws  of  the  state.  "  This 
fellow  persuadeth  men  to  worship  God  contrary  to  the 
law."  t  It  was  wisely  ordered  that  so  kind  and  benig- 
nant a  ruler  had  been  sent  to  Corinth.  Had  Gallio  been 
stern  and  rigorous — had  he  been  fired,  as  many  others 
were,  with  hatred  to  the  Christian  cause,  the  Apostle 

*  Lcwiu  and  Barnes.  f  Acts  xviii.  13. 


240  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

might  have  been  expelled,  or  imprisoned,  and  the 
flourishing  little  church  left  to  droop  in  sadness.  But 
Gallio's  verdict  contributed  greatly  to  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  Gospel  cause  ;  for  after  Sosthenes  (probably 
the  successor  of  Crispus  in  the  Jewish  synagogue)  had 
led  the  accusation,  the  governor,  without  even  allowing 
'Paul  to  speak  a  word  of  defence,  dismisses  the  case. 
He  tells  the  Jews  that  he  was  not  sent  there  to  act  as 
judge  in  their  petty  quarrels,  and  to  be  the  settler  of 
religious  disputes.  Had  it  been  a  question  affecting 
the  peace  of  the  province,  his  conduct  would  have  been 
different ;  but  he  would  certainly  not  meddle  with  mat- 
ters of  mere  party  violence  and  feeling.  "  And  when 
Paul  was  now  about  to  open  his  mouth,  Gallio  said 
unto  the  Jews,  If  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong  or  wicked 
lewdness,  0  ye  Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should  bear 
with  you  :  but  if  it  be  a  question  of  words  and  names, 
and  of  your  law,  look  ye  to  it;  for  I  will  be  no  judge  of 
such  matters."*  The  Greeks  were  standing  around 
the  tribunal,  anxiously  waiting  the  decision ;  they 
heard  it  with  gladness  and  satisfaction;  they  even  laid 
hands  on  Sosthenes  and  beat  him.  It  is  evident, 
moreover,  that  Gallio's  feelings  were  by  no  means  of  a 
friendly  kind  towards  these  accusing  Jews  ;  for  we  are 
told  that  he  "took  no  notice  of  any  of  these  things." t 
Paul,  therefore,  on  account  of  this  important  decision, 
was  allowed  to  remain  in  safety  in  the  Isthmian  city. 
The  assurance  he   received  in   the  night  vision  was 


*  Acts  xviii.  14,  15. 

t  This  seems  to  be  the  true  meaning  of  what  is  rendered  in  our  version, 
"And  Gallio  cared  for  none  of  these  things."  "This  has  been  usually 
charged  on  Gallio  as  a  matter  of  reproach,  as  if  he  were  wholly  indifferent 
to  religion.  But  the  charge  is  unjustly  made." — Barnes  On  Acts;  note  in 
Olshausen,  &c. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  241 

already  fulfilled,  that  no  man  would  be  allowed  to  hurt 
him,  and  that  he  might  fearlessly  proclaim  the  cause  of 
his  Divine  Master.  A  judgment-day  only  will  reveal  the 
fruit  of  these  many  months'  devoted  labour.  We  know, 
however,  that  he  had  in  that  city  many  souls  for  his 
hire.  Wicked  Corinth,  with  all  its  dreadful  sins,  be- 
came a  striking  comment  on  Paul's  own  words  else- 
where, "Where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more 
abound." 

It  may  just  be  worthy  of  notice  here,  that  Sosthenes, 
who  appears  at  this  trial  a  leader  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
bitter  opponent  of  St  Paul,  himself  became  a  convert 
to  the  faith  of  Jesus.  He  has  his  name  joined  with 
that  of  the  Great  Apostle  in  the  1st  verse  of  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  Nay,  as  Paul  was  himself 
unable  to  write  his  own  letters,  and  always  employed 
a  scribe,  it  is  more  than  likely  Sosthenes  penned  that 
Christian  epistle  from  Ephesus  to  his  old  fellow- citizens 
of  Corinth  ! 

At  the  end,  however,  of  "  a  year  and  six  months," 
our  Apostle  was  desirous  of  paying  a  visit  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  there  keeping  one  of  the  great  annual 
feasts,  most  probably  the  Feast  of  Pentecost.  He 
avails  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  his  two  friends, 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  going  to  Ephesus.  They  embark 
together  in  the  same  vessel,  taking,  doubtless,  many 
affectionate  farewells,  with  the  solemn  feeling  that  they 
might  never  again  meet  in  the  flesh.  Their  road  first 
conducted  them  to  the  Eastern  port  of  Cenchrea, 
where  an  occurrence  took  place  we  must  not  pass  by 
without  notice.  It  was  customary  for  the  Jews,  when- 
ever they  had  experienced  any  great  mercy  or  deliver 
Q 


242  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

ance  at  the  hand  of  God/"'  to  take  the  "  vow  of  the 
Nazarite,"  which  you  will  find  particularly  described  in 
the  6th  Chapter  of  the  Book  of  Numbers.  It  consisted 
in  abstaining  for  thirty  days  from  the  use  of  wine,  the 
hair  and  beard  being  left  to  grow,  and  at  the  end  of 
this  period  the  head  was  shaven.  There  were  also 
several  appointed  sacrifices ;  but  as  they  could  only  be 
offered  in  Jerusalem,  it  was  customary  for  those  who 
made  the  vow  at  a  distance,  to  defer  presenting  them 
till  their  next  visit  to  the  Holy  City.  Paul,  though 
he  looked  in  no  degree  to  the  law  of  Moses  for  salva- 
tion, still  loved  to  retain  any  Jewish  custom  which 
the  higher  claims  of  Christianity  would  admit  of.  It 
has  been  supposed,  indeed,  that  one  great  object  he 
had  at  present  in  making  this  vow  was,  to  convince 
the  Jews  that  he  was  no  enemy  to  their  law,  but  that 
he  still  looked  with  the  veneration  of  a  child  of  Israel 
to  the  rites  of  the  old  dispensation ;  and  feeling  at  this 
time  the  great  goodness  of  God  in  his  merciful  preser- 
vation from  the  hands  of  his  accusers,  he  had  made, 
thirty  days  before  arriving  at  Cenchrea,  the  vow  which 
I  have  referred  to.  The  period  of  keeping  it  had  just 
expired,  and  his  head  was  shorn  before  taking  ship 
from  the  port  of  Corinth.  It  may  be  worth  while 
further  noticing,  that  Eastern  travellers  find  similar 
customs,  regarding  vows,  prevalent  to  this  day.  "  An 
usage,  similar  to  the  vow  of  the  Nazariteship,  exists 
in  Persia  now.  It  frequently  happens,  after  the  birth 
of  a  son,  that  if  the  parent  be  in  distress,  or  the  child 
be  sick,  or  any  other  cause  of  grief,  the  mother  makes 
a  vow  that  no  razor  shall  come  upon  the  child's  head 

*  Joseplius,  book  i,  2,  15. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  243 

for  a  certain  portion  of  time,  and  sometimes  for  his 
whole  life,  as  Samuel  was  (1  Sam.  i.  11).  If  the  child 
recovers,  and  the  canse  of  grief  be  removed,  then  the 
mother  shaves  his  head  at  the  end  of  the  time  pre- 
scribed— makes  a  small  entertainment' — collects  money 
and  other  things  from  her  relations  and  friends,  which 
are  sent  as  netzers  or  offerings  to  the  mosque  at  Ker- 
belah,  and  are  there  consecrated."  * 

We  may  imagine  St  Paul,  with  his  two  Corin- 
thian friends,  also  Silas,  Timothy,  and  a  third  apostle, 
Titus,  here  named  for  the  first  time,  bidding  adieu  to 
the  coast  of  Achaia — obtaining  now  and  then,  as  they 
sail  along,  a  glimpse  of  the  Athenian  Acropolis  and  the 
glittering  statue  of  Minerva.  Probably,  instead  of 
continuing  a  direct  easterly  course,  he  would  have  pre- 
ferred sailing  northwards  again,  between  the  island 
of  Eubcea  and  the  mainland,  and  coming  ashore  at  the 
base  of  Olympus,  to  have  visited  his  beloved  church  at 
Thessalonica.  He  tells  us,  indeed,  how  much  he 
wished  to  do  so  ;  but  something  in  God's  good  provi- 
dence "  hindered  him "  for  the  present,  and  many 
years  were  to  elapse  till  they  were  to  meet  again  face 
to  face.  Soon  the  voyagers  are  threading  their  way 
among  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago, — the  lovely 
"isles  of  Greece," — and  reach  in  safety  the  city  of 
Ephesus,  the  great  capital  of  Asia,  as  Corinth  was  of 
Achaia.  Here  the  Apostle  paused  only  for  a  day  or 
two  at  this  time ;  the  ship  in  which  they  were  sailing 
being  destined  for  the  coast  of  Syria.  He  had  an 
opportunity,  however,  to  hold  a  discussion  with  the 
Jews  of  Ephesus,  in  their  synagogue,  on  Sabbath.      It 

*  Morier's  Second  Journey,  quoted  by  Home  in  his  Introduction,  vol.  ii. 
p.  329. 


244  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

was  more  encouraging  than  any  recent  meetings  with 
his  brethren ;  they  even  urged  him  to  prolong  his  stay, 
which,  however,  he  declined,  as  either  the  vessel  which 
had  brought  him  thither  or  another  was  about  to  sail, 
and  he  had  a  divine  call  to  attend  the  approaching  fes- 
tival at  Jerusalem — "  I  must  by  all  means  keep  this 
feast  j "  *  but  he  gave  the  promise  of  a  speedy  return, 
if  God's  will  so  ordered  it.  Again  embarking,  and 
leaving  Aquila  and  Priscilla  at  Ephesus,  we  may  fol- 
low him  and  his  three  companions  in  thought  past  the 
Island  of  Rhodes  and  Cyprus,  till  they  land  at  the 
military  port  of  Cesarea,  with  which  we  are  already 
familiar. 

The  sacred  oracles  are  silent  about  Paul's  visit  at 
this  time  to  Jerusalem.  It  has  been  supposed  his  pur- 
pose of  being  present  at  the  feast  was  by  delay  frus- 
trated, as  he  merely  speaks  of  "  saluting  the  church," 
and  then  departing.  He  would  doubtless  repair  to  the 
temple,  offering  there  the  accustomed  sacrifices  in  ful- 
filment of  his  vow,  and  anew  tell  with  a  joyous  heart 
to  his  fellow- Christians  and  brethren  all  that  the  Lord 
had  done  in  distant  heathen  lands.  He  bends  his 
steps  once  more  (probably  along  the  coast  road)  to 
the  Syrian  Antioch,  to  which  town  the  present  was  in 
all  probability  his  last  and  closing  visit.  You,  doubt- 
less, have  not  forgotten  that  this  was  the  church  which 
first  sent  him  out  on  his  missionary  work.  He  must 
have  had  towards  it  the  feeling  of  a  child  to  a  parent. 
He  had  gone  forth  from  them  but  a  few  years  before, 
"bearing  precious  seed,"  and  he  had  now  come  again 
"  with  rejoicing,"  bringing  the  tidings  of  sheaves  with 
him,  reaped  in  the  great  mission  Harvest. 

*  Acts  xviii.  21. 


PAUL  AT  CORINTH.  245 

Is  he  here  now  to  rest?  is  the  "good  soldier"  to 
repose  on  the  laurels  he  has  won,  and,  ungirding  his 
missionary  armour,  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  inglorious  ease  on  the  banks  of  the  Orontes  ?  Hav- 
ing done  so  much  himself,  may  he  not  now  leave  tho 
work  to  others  1  He  has  borne  "  the  burden  and  heat 
of  the  day," — who  could  wonder  if  he  wished  to  spend 
the  evening  of  his  life  in  quiet  and  peace,  and  send  out 
younger  and  hardier  warriors  to  fight  the  battles  of 
the  faith?  This  great  standard-bearer  in  "  the  glorious 
company  of  apostles  "  had  no  such  thought ;  he  only 
comes  to  Antioch  to  gird  on  his  armour  for  fresh  con- 
quests. "  Not  as  though  I  had  already  attained,"  was 
the  motto  of  his  public  as  well  as  his  private  life.  He 
prepares  to  set  out  from  this  city  on  his  Third  Mission- 
ary Journey* 

He  begins  his  new  pilgrimage  by  fulfilling  the  pro- 
mise we  have  just  found  him  making  to  the  church  at 
Ephesus,  going  direct  thither  across  the  interior  of 
Asia  Minor.  With  the  exception  of  Titus,  we  cannot 
exactly  say  who  were  his  travelling  companions.  Silas 
he  seems  to  have  left  behind  him  at  Jerusalem ;  per- 
haps Erastus,  Gaius,  and  Aristarchus,  accompanied 
him.t  We  have  every  reason  to  believe  Timothy  still 
continued  at  his  side.  Travelling  through  Cilicia,  the 
Great  Apostle  might  possibly  once  more  visit  his  native 
Tarsus,  and  have  the  fond  memories  of  his  boyhood 
again  revived.  Similar,  too,  must  have  been  the  feel- 
ings of  Timothy  as  he  passed  with  his  "  father  in  the 
faith"  through  the  place  of  his  birth  and  childhood. 
Paul  must  have,  on  this  journey,  also  "  saluted"  his  Ga- 
latian  churches.     You  cannot  have  forgotten  the  kind- 

*  See  now  the  vermilion  line  on  the  map.  f  Acos  xix,  29, 


246  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

ness  he  received,  on  his  first  visit,  from  this  singular 
people.  I  fear,  however,  by  this  time,  judging  from 
what  he  says  afterwards  in  his  "  letter  "  to  them,  that 
they  had  been  corrupted  from  the  purity  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  that  "strifes,  seditions,  heresies,"  had  taken  the 
place  of  unity  and  brotherly  love.  One  of  the  obj  ects  the 
Apostle  had  in  this  new  missionary  tour,  was  to  gather 
collections  in  behalf  of  the  poor  saints  and  brethren  in 
Judea,  and  his  old  friends  in  Galatia  were  not  behind 
in  their  liberality.  After  visiting  the  churches  in 
Phrygia,  and  getting  from  them  similar  contributions, 
he  and  his  companions  probably  pursued  the  great  high- 
way in  the  direction  of  Colosse.  Though  we  have  no 
means  of  determining  the  precise  route  they  adopted, 
we  have  little  doubt  that  they  travelled  now  the 
region  he  was  "  forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  to  visit 
before,  and  that  he  passed  through  so  me  of  those  seven 
cities  which  were  afterwards  made  famous  as  the  sites 
of  the  seven  churches  mentioned  in  Revelation.  We 
shall  not,  however,  pause  to  describe  their  journey,  but 
at  once  take  our  readers  to  the  town  of  Ephesus ;  or 
rather  we  shall  leave  for  a  little  the  newly-arrived 
missionaries  there,  until  we  speak  of  a  new  character 
who  presents  himself  to  our  notice  In  connexion  with 
the  same  place. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


$mtl  at  €$\tsv&. 


In  the  proud  land  of  palaces  wert  thou 

Alone  and  matchless,  as  thine  own  fair  queen 
Shines  'midst  the  gems  of  night's  star-crowned  brow, 

Veiling  their  dim  rays  with  superior  sheen. 
Thy  countless  columns  gleam 'd  in  rich  array — 

The  gifts  of  monarchs,  and  the  work  of  men — 
Whose  nobler  names,  when  regal  thrones  decay, 

Shall  boast  the  meed  of  Fame's  recording  pen." 

"Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesiansl" — Acts  six.  28. 


we  day,  while  the  Jews  of  Ephesus  were 
£*nm\  assembled  in  their  synagogue,  a  stranger 
rose  up  to  address  them.  They  were  at  once  struck 
with  his  fervour,  learning,  and  eloquence.  He  was 
deeply  read  in  their  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and 
ably  argued  from  them.  Who  can  this  be  1  It  is  a 
name  that  occurs  now  for  the  first  time  in  our  narra- 
tive. 

A  polios  was  a  native  of  Egypt.  He  had  recently 
come  to  Ephesus,  and,  along  with  twelve  others,  was  "a 
disciple  of  John  the  Baptist."  "He  knew  only  of  the 
baptism  of  John,"— that  is  to  say,  all  the  knowledge 
he  had  of  the  true  Messiah  was  derived  from  the 
preaching  of  the  Baptist  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan. 
He  and  his  associates  were  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that 
Jesus   Christ  had  really  come   into  the  world— had 


250  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

died,  and  risen  again.  Their  minds,  however,  were  in  a 
state  of  "preparation ;"  they  knew  that  "the  kingdom 
of  heaven  was  at  hand,"  and  now  they  were  ready  to 
receive,  from  the  lips  of  the  Great  Apostle,  the  joyful 
intelligence  that  the  Messiah  had  indeed  suffered,  and 
had  "  entered  into  His  glory."  * 

Apollos,  born  and  educated  at  Alexandria,  had  his 
mind  stored  with  the  learning  of  its  celebrated  uni- 
versity. To  this  he  added  a  powerful  eloquence.  "  He 
was  mighty  in  the  Scriptures;"  he  had  studied  and 
pondered  with  great  care  the  Old  Testament  prophe- 
cies relating  to  the  Messiah,  and,  being  convinced  him- 
self, he  zealously  tried  to  convince  others  that  the  Sa- 
viour must  soon  come.  With  holy  ardour,  he  seems  to 
have  travelled  about  from  place  to  place,  and,  in  the 
spirit  of  Elias,  preached  "  the  baptism  of  repentance," 
— calling  on  all  to  forsake  their  sins,  and  to  prepare 
their  minds  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Already  in  the  Ephesian  synagogue  an  interest  had 
been  excited  about  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Paul  had 
very  lately  been  addressing  his  Jewish  brethren  there. 
Aquila  and  Priscilla  had  done  so  since  his  departure, 
doubtless  instructing  their  fellow-countrymen  in  those 
great  truths  which  they  themselves  had  heard  often 
and  again  from  the  lips  of  the  Great  Apostle  of  Tarsus, 
as  he  sat  with  them  on  the  same  floor  at  their  tent- 
making.  Upon  the  day  to  which  I  have  referred,  after 
listening  to  the  eloquence  and  earnestness  of  this  Alex- 
andrian Jew,  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  at  the  end  of  the 
service,  made  themselves  known  to  him.  They  invited 
him  to  their  house,  where  they  "  taught  him  the  way 
of  the  Lord  more  perfectly,"  showing  him  that  "  the 

*  See  Olshausen  On  Acts,  in  loc. 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS.  251 

mystery  of  godliness  "  had  already  been  revealed — that 
God  had  been  "  manifest  in  the  flesh." 

The  disciple  of  John,  now  a  devoted  servant  of 
John's  Great  Master,  went  forth  to  proclaim  in  Achaia 
"  the  unsearchable  riches "  of  a  dying,  and  now  ever- 
living  Saviour.  Receiving  "  letters  of  commendation  " 
from  the  Christians  at  Ephesus,  he  took  ship  and  sailed 
direct  to  Corinth  ;  there,  with  his  wonted  eloquence, 
he  argued  with  those  Jews  who  had  rejected  Paul, 
showing  that  Jesus  was  indeed  the  Christ.  They  were 
totally  unable  to  resist  the  force  of  his  appeals.  Paul 
himself  alludes  to  this  in  one  of  his  letters  to  them — 
"  I  have  planted  ;  Apollos  watered."*  His  coming  to 
Corinth  produced  one  unfortunate  result,  which  he, 
doubtless,  greatly  regretted.  The  Christians  there, 
forgetful  that  both  he  and  Paul  were  only  lowly  instru- 
ments in  God's  hand,  separated  themselves  into  two 
parties, — thereby  causing  those  earnest  and  devoted 
brethren  in  a  common  Lord,  to  appear  as  if  they  were 
rivals,  and  opposed  to  one  another.  Some  were  "  of 
Paul,"  and  others  "  of  Apollos."  Our  Apostle  was  also 
greatly  grieved  at  this  spirit.  In  words  of  holy  re- 
buke, he  writes  to  them,  "  Who,  then,  is  Paul,  and 
who  is  Apollos,  but  ministers  by  whom  ye  believed  1 " 
"  Is  Christ  divided  1  was  Paul  crucified  for  you  1  or 
were  ye  baptized  in  the  name  of  Paul  ? "  t 

We  shall  leave  Apollos  in  his  devoted  work  at 
Corinth,  and  once  more  return  to  Ephesus.  Its  im- 
portance in  the  life  of  Paul,  and  in  the  early  Christian 
Church,  entitles  it  to  special  notice.  If  you  look  at  the 
picture  we  have  given  of  it,  it  may  help  to  give  an 
idea   of  the  city  as  it  was  when  he   now  entered  its 

*  1  Cor.  iii.  6.  f  1  Cor.  iii.  5 ;  i.  13. 


252  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

gates,  and  was  about  to  gather  in  some  more  "  first- 
fruits"  of  the  great  Gospel  harvest.  The  city  itself 
was  at  this  time  the  largest  and  most  renowned  in 
Asia  Minor.  It  was  built  near  where  the  rivers 
Hermus  and  Mseander  empty  their  waters  into  the 
JEge&K  Sea;  and,  from  its  situation,  became  the  resi- 
dence of  many  classes  from  all  parts  of  the  East.  It 
wa>  called  by  Pliny  one  of  the  "  Eyes  of  Asia," 
Smyrna  being  the  other.  A  Roman  proconsul  go- 
verned it  in  great  splendour.  He  was  clothed  in  pur- 
ple, attended  by  twelve  lictors  with  their  fasces ;  and, 
like  our  judges  in  England  and  Scotland,  made  his  cir- 
cuit once  a  year  to  all  the  smaller  towns  in  Asia,  and 
held  a  court  of  justice.*  The  original  city  was  built 
on  the  side  of  the  hill  Coressus,  the  base  of  which  is 
nearest  you  to  the  left  of  the  picture,  sloping  gradually 
into  the  plain.  Mount  Pactyas  (from  which  the  view 
is  supposed  to  be  taken)  bounded  it  on  the  east,  Mount 
Gallesius  on  the  north,  with  a  lake  at  its  base ;  while 
the  waters  of  the  ocean  were  on  the  west  (represented 
in  the  distance  of  the  picture).  All  these  hills  were 
precipitous,  enclosing,  like  so  many  ramparts,  the  plain 
on  which  Ephesus  stood,  except  at  the  north-east, 
where  the  river  Cayster,  which  you  will  observe  on 
the  right,  wound  its  way  through  the  plain  to  the  sea. 
The  prominent  hill  rising  in  front  of  Mount  Coressus, 
is  Mount  Prion,  famous  for  its  quarries.  In  the  valley 
between  these  two  hills,  may  still  be  traced  the  remains 
of  one  of  the  celebrated  "  gymnasia."  Mount  Prion 
itself  is  overrun  at  this  day  with  tangled  thickets,  but 
we  may  imagine  what  it  must  have  been  in  the  days  of 
Paul,  when  covered  with  mason-work  from    its   own 

*  Lewin. 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS.  203 

quarries.  Looking  down  from  its  summit,  what  is  now 
a  swamp,  was  then  a  spacious  harbour,  or  inland  basin, 
called  Panormus,  or  "  All-haven,"  where  the  ships  of 
the  European  seas  rode  at  anchor.  It  was  at  this  har- 
bour that  Aquila,  Priscilla,  and  Paul  must  have  landed. 
From  the  same  height  might  be  seen  the  Stadium,  or 
place  where  those  engaged  in  the  games  contended, 
with  its  tiers  of  stone  seats  cut  out  of  the  natural  rock 
(see  the  nearest  part  of  the  picture  on  the  left).  Also, 
midway  between  the  Stadium  and  Mount  Prion,  the 
enormous  Theatre,  of  which  we  shall  by  and  by  speak, 
where  the  Ephesian  mob  were  addressed  by  the  town- 
clerk.* 

But  the  crowning  glory  of  Ephesus  was  its  wonder- 
ful temple  to  the  goddess  Diana,  which  I  shall  leave 
my  young  readers  to  find  out  for  themselves.  This 
was  considered  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  Old  World; 
and  well  it  might  be  called  so.  It  was  said  that  the 
sun,  in  all  his  course  through  the  heavens,  looked  down 
on  nothing  so  glorious. t  It  was  composed  of  all  that 
was  magnificent  in  Asiatic  art.  The  states  round  about 
had  shared  the  cost  of  its  erection.  It  was  built  of 
marble,  found  in  the  quarries  of  Mount  Prion,  and  was 
said  to  be  so  pure  and  bright  as  to  dazzle  the  eyes  of 
mariners  at  a  distance. 

The  story  is  worth  giving  as  to  how  these  marble 
quarries  were  discovered.  A  shepherd,  named  Pixo- 
dorus,  was  feeding  his  flock  on  the  hill ;  two  of  his 

*  Chandler  mentions,  that  among  the  pile  of  ruins  which  the  Theatre 
has  now  become,  he  discovered  an  arch,  next  to  the  Stadium,  on  which 
was  an  inscription  inviting  the  reader,  if  he  did  not  join  in  the  sports  and 
festive  scenes,  at  all  events  to  be  pleased  with  the  architect's  device.  What 
a  lesson  would  be  read  to  him  if  he  gazed  on  the  triumph  of  his  genius 
now! 

f  Chandler,  p.  139. 


254  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

rams  began  to  fight  with  one  another ;  the  one  of 
these,  in  making  a  rash  at  his  enemy,  missed  his  mark 
and  struck  his  horn  through  the  turf,  goring  some 
white  substance  with  it.  The  shepherd  dug  up  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  rock,  and  ran  into  the  city  with  his  prize. 
It  was  just  what  the  Ephesians  were  in  search  of — 
marble  for  the  building  of  their  temple!  The  lucky 
shepherd  was  amply  rewarded,  and  even  got  divine 
honours  paid  him  at  his  death.* 

The  temple  stood  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  noble 
harbour  of  which  we  have  just  spoken.  You  may 
imagine  what  a  pile  it  was,  when  you  hear  that  it  was 
220  years  in  building,  425  feet  in  length,  by  220  in 
breadth.  The  shrine  of  the  goddess  was  surrounded 
by  a  colonnade,  open  to  the  sky,  of  127  columns  of 
Parian  marble,  each  weighing  150  tons,  60  feet  high, 
and  each  the  gift  of  a  king.  It  was  decorated  and 
beautified  inside  with  cedar,  cypress,  gold,  jewels,  and 
precious  stones ;  the  roof  was  supported  with  columns 
of  green  jasper.  Eight  of  these  still  remain  entire  in 
the  great  mosque  of  St  Sophia,  in  Constantinople,  to 
which  they  were  removed,  along  with  other  remains 
of  its  glory,  in  the  reign  of  Justinian.  Art  must  have 
attained  great  perfection  in  Ephesus.  Apelles  and 
Parrhasius,  the  two  greatest  painters  that  ever  lived, 
were  natives  of  the  city.  One  picture  of  Apelles, 
which  represented  Alexander  the  Great  grasping  a 
thunderbolt,  was  hung  in  the  temple  of  Diana,  pur- 
chased at  a  cost  of  twenty  talents  of  gold, — a  sum  which 
Chandler  estimates  at  £38,750.t  The  magnificent 
altar  was  from  the  chisel  of  Praxiteles;  the  staircase 
was  made  of  a  single  vine  from  the  island  of  Cyprus ; 

*  See  Chandler,  p.  126.  t  See  Mr  Lewin,  p.  358. 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS.  255 

the  noblest  pictures  were  hung  on  the  walls;  and, 
among  many  other  statues,  one  of  puro  gold  was 
erected  to  Antemidorus.*  Besides  these,  much  of  the 
wealth  of  Asia  was  deposited  for  safety  within  this 
sacred  shrine. 

You  may  easily  suppose  how  imposing  the  temple 
must  have  appeared,  approaching  from  the  sea — look- 
ing down  on  the  ships  which  crowded  the  wharves  of 
Panormus,  and  how  justly  proud  every  Ephesian  must 
have  been  of  this  world-renowned  edifice!  It  stood 
untouched  for  many  ages.  At  last,  like  many  other 
splendid  relics  of  antiquity,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  invading  Goths,  in  a.d.  260,  and  was  pillaged  by 
them.  Modern  travellers  have  visited  its  remains,  and, 
by  means  of  torches,  have  threaded  their  way  under 
the  dark  vaulted  chambers  on  which  it  was  built. 
Bats  of  large  size  struck  against  them,  roused  from  the 
darkness  and  desolation  which  reigns  within.t  All 
combine  in  the  testimony,  that  Ephesus  is  at  this  day 
a  total  wreck.  "  Its  streets,"  says  Dr  Chandler,  whose 
visit  was  in  1764,  "are  obscured  and  overgrown.  A 
herd  of  goats  was  driven  to  it  for  shelter  from  the  sun 
at  noon,  and  a  noisy  flight  of  crows,  from  the  quarries, 
seemed  to  insult  its  silence.  We  heard  the  partridge 
call  in  the  area  of  the  Theatre  and  the  Stadium." 
"  Nothing  is  seen,  in  its  dripping  marble  quarries,  but 
the  marks  of  the  tools  of  former  days. "J  Alas  for 
Ephesus !  it  did  not  listen  to  the  warning  voice — "  Re- 

*  This  full  description  of  Ephesus  is  given  by  the  historians  Strabo  and 
Pliny.  See  also  Pocoke's  Travels,  Anacharsis'  Travels,  and  the  interesting 
narrative  of  Dr  Chandler,  who  was  sent  out  by  the  Dilettanti  Society  for 
the  express  purpose  of  exploring  the  remains  of  antiquity  in  Asia  Minor, 
pp.  109-137. 

t  roid. 

\  Howson. 


256  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

member,  therefore,  from  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and 
repent,  and  do  the  first  works ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto 
thee  quickly  and  remove  thy  candlestick  out  of  his 
place,  except  thou  repent."  That  light,  which  burned 
for  a  while  so  brightly,  is  now  quenched  in  total  dark- 
ness— a  "chaos  of  noble  ruins!"  "  Even  the  sea  has 
retired  from  the  scene  of  desolation,  and  a  pestilential 
morass,  covered  with  mud  and  rushes,  has  succeeded 
to  the  waters  which  brought  up  the  ships  laden  with 
merchandise  from  every  country."* 

On  arriving,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  at  this 
city,  the  Apostle  met  those  twelve  disciples  of  John  we 
have  already  alluded  to.  Not  only  were  they,  as  I 
have  told  you,  altogether  ignorant  of  Christ ;  they 
were  also  ignorant  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  third  person 
in  the  blessed  Trinity,  and  of  His  outpouring  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost.  "Have  ye  received,"  he  asked 
them,  "  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed  1 "  They 
answered,  "We  have  not  so  much  as  heard  wiiether 
there  be  any  Holy  Ghost."  t  Paul  expounded  to  them 
the  glorious  "  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus."  They  received 
his  testimony ;  were  baptized ;  and  by  the  laying-on  of 
his  hands,  they  prophesied  and  spake  with  various 
tongues.  The  Apostle,  we  have  every  reason  to  think, 
took  up  his  abode  again  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla. 
With  them,  too,  he  probably  resumed  his  work  at  the 
tents ;  at  all  events,  we  know,  from  one  of  his  own 
letters, J  that,  during  the  three  years  he  lived  at 
Ephesus,  he  earned  his  bread  by  the  "  labour  of  his 
own  hands."  And  he  could  at  an  after  period  extend 
these  hands,  rough  with  daily  labour,  before  the  elders 

*  Arundell's  Visit  to  the  Seven  Churches. 
f  Acts  xix.  2.  %  1  Cor.  vi.  11,  12. 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS.  257 

of  Ephesus,  and  make  the  appeal,  "  Ye  yourselves 
know  that  these  have  ministered  to  my  necessities."  * 
•  For  three  months "  he  continued  to  speak  boldly  in 
their  synagogue,  till  at  last  the  old  Jewish  enmity 
manifested  itself.  His  brethren  falsely  accused  and 
derided  him  in  the  presence  of  the  people.  This  led 
him  openly  to  leave  their  synagogue;  and  for  two 
years  he  preached  in  a  separate  place  of  meeting,  in  the 
"  school "  (or  lecture-room)  "  of  Tyrannus," — probably 
a  teacher  or  doctor,  who  had  been  by  his  means  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  We  have  no  certain  informa- 
tion as  to  Paul's  success  during  this  long  period  of  resi- 
dence ;  but  in  the  same  address  to  the  elders  of  Ephe- 
sus at  Miletus,  we  see  the  more  than  tender  affection 
borne  for  those  he  was  now  teaching,  and  among  whom 
he  had  gone  about  from  house  to  house,  instruct- 
ing and  warning  them  "  night  and  day  with  tears." 
We  know  that,  before  he  left,  a  large  and  nourishing- 
church  was  formed  at  Ephesus,  not  only  in  the  city, 
but  numbering  many  converts  throughout  the  province. 
"  The  Word  of  God  mightily  grew  and  prevailed."  t 
As  was  to  be  expected,  however,  he  encountered  still 
the  envy  of  the  Jews.  This  seems  to  have  been  great, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  manner  he  refers  to  "the 
many  tears  and  temptations  which  befell  him  by  the 
lying  in  wait  of  the  Jews."  His  preservation  was 
itself  a  miracle.  It  was  only  the  good  and  gracious 
hand  of  his  God  which  could  have  protected  him.  His 
own  short  history  of  himself  and  his  perils  at  this  time, 
when  he  writes  from  Ephesus  to  the  Corinthians,  is 
this — "  I  die  daily."  J  Death  every  day  seemed  to 
stare  him  in  the  face. 

*  Acts  xx.  34.  f  Actsxix.  20.  f  ICor.  xv.  3J. 

R 


258  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

There  is  a  striking  occurrence  at  this  time  mentioned 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  we  cannot  pass  over 
in  silence.  I  have  already  told  you  that  the  patron 
goddess  of  the  city  of  Ephesus  was  Diana.*  Her  image 
was  supposed  to  have  fallen  from  the  sky.  An  un- 
shapely block  it  was ;  not  like  the  beautiful  forms  we 
have  been  accustomed  to  think  of  among  the  statues 
of  Athens,  but  a  figure  more  like  what  is  seen  at  this 
day  in  the  pagodas  of  India. t  To  prevent  its  tottering, 
a  bar  of  metal — some  say  of  gold,  others  of  iron — was 
placed  under  each  hand.  A  veil,  hanging  from  the 
roof  of  the  temple,  concealed  it,  unless  on  the  great 
occasion  of  the  festival,  when  it  was  exposed  to  pub- 
lic view.  "  Mutianus,  a  noble  Roman,  affirmed  that  the 
figure  was  made  of  vine,  and  had  many  holes,  filled 
with  nard,  to  nourish  and  moisten  it,  and  to  preserve 
the  cement.";};  This  hideous  goddess  was,  however, 
gorgeously  apparelled.  She  had  a  crown  on  her  head, 
and  a  girdle  round  her  waist ;  on  the  crown,  girdle, 
and  feet,  there  were  engraven  sundry  curious  letters, 
on  which  the  Ephesians  looked  with  superstitious  awe. 
Copied  and  written  out  on  rolls  of  parchment,  these 
"  letters  "  used  to  be  carried  about  on  the  persons  of 
many  of  the  people,  who  foolishly  considered  that  they 
would  prove  a  sort  of  charm,  protecting  them  from  all 
kinds  of  evil.  Many  large  books  or  scrolls  were  to  be 
had,  describing  these  same  "  Ephesian  Letters,"  pre- 
tending to  explain  their  secrets,  and,  as  such,  sold  for 

*  It  was  a  matter  of  policy  often  to  keep  up  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
the  idea  of  such  protectors  over  their  city.  The  Trojans  imagined  their 
city's  safety  depended  on  the  Palladium,  an  image  of  Pallas-Minerva,  also 
believed  to  have  fallen  from  heaven.  The  same  with  the  Ancilia,  or  Sacred 
Shields ;  Ceres,  in  Sicily,  &c— See  Barnes,  in  loc. 

t  See  picture,  Chap.  sv.  J  Chandler,  p.  134. 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS.  259 

enormous  prices.  There  is  a  story  told  of  an  Ephesian 
and  Milesian  wrestling  with  one  another  at  the 
Olympic  games.  The  Ephesian  got  the  better  of 
his  opponent,  but  the  cause  was  soon  discovered,  the 
former  having  some  of  these  magic  letters  bound 
round  his  heel  !  As  soon  as  the  other  found  out  the 
reason,  he  insisted  on  their  removal,  and  he  was  said 
to  be  instantly  victorious!  So  says  a  grave  old  writer.* 
Indeed,  there  was  no  city  in  all  the  East  where  sorcery 
and  magic  were  practised  to  such  an  extent  as  at  Ephesus; 
and  those,  too,  who  believed  in  these,  were  not  among 
the  lowest  of  the  people,  but  men  and  women  of  birth 
and  reputation.  God  seems  to  have  given  his  apostolic 
servant  at  this  time  a  special  power  to  work  miracles, 
and  that  in  the  way  best  calculated  to  confound  the 
arts  of  the  sorcerers.  For  multitudes,  we  are  told, 
brought  "handkerchiefs  and  aprons"  with  which  to 
touch  the  Apostle's  person,  and  then  they  applied  these 
to  the  bodies  of  their  sick  or  diseased  friends,  and  they 
were  immediately  healed. 

Paul,  like  Aaron  and  Moses  of  old  before  the  magi- 
cians of  Egypt,  met  the  magicians  and  sorcerers  of 
Ephesus  face  to  face.  Among  them  were  some  Jewish 
exorcists,  or  pretended  sorcerers,  who  professed  to  have 
the  power  of  casting  out  devils  by  the  use  of  certain 
words  or  incantations,  many  of  which  were  believed  to 
have  been  composed  and  used  by  King  Solomon. 
Josephus,  the  historian,  seems  himself  to  have  been 
carried  away  with  these  delusions.  He  gives  a  curious 
account  of  one  Eleazar,  a  Jew,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Emperor  Vespasian  and  the  officers  of  his  army,  curing 
a  demoniac  by  holding  a  ring  under  his  nose,  in  which 

*  Eustatliius. 


260  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

was  placed  a  small  portion  of  a  plant  prescribed  by 
Solomon.  At  the  smell  of  the  plant,  he  solemnly  tells 
us  the  demon  took  to  flight,  and  overturned  a  full  cup 
of  water  as  he  left  the  room  where  the  feat  was  per- 
formed !  *  These  Ephesian  exorcists,  when  they  saw 
that  Paul,  by  the  name  of  "  Jesus"  performed  many 
miracles,  impiously  tried,  by  the  use  of  the  same  holy 
name,  to  perform  arts  and  wonders  themselves.  There 
were  seven  sons  of  a  Jew  named  Sceva  particularly 
mentioned,  who  attempted,  by  pronouncing  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  expel  some  demons  from  one  who 
was  possessed,  saying,  "We  adjure  you  by  Jesus,  whom 
Paul  preacheth."  t  The  evil  spirit  in  a  loud  voice  re- 
buked their  presumption.  "Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I 
know;  but  who  are  ye1?"  The  man,  goaded  on  to 
frenzy  by  the  power  of  the  demon  within  him,  sprang 
upon  the  profane  sorcerers,  and  made  them  in  terror 
fly  out  of  the  house,  "naked  and  wounded."  Soon 
the  tidings  of  what  had  taken  place  spread  through 
the  city ;  the  dark  heathen  art  fell  immediately  into 
discredit.  Many  of  the  sorcerers  and  magicians,  trem- 
bling and  astonished,  came  to  the  Apostle,  mourning 
over  their  delusions.  They  sought  repentance,  and 
began  to  honour  the  name  they  and  their  fellows  had 
so  daringly  blasphemed. 

Their  conduct  is  worthy  of  all  mention  and  praise ; 
not  only  did  they  give  up  and  abandon  their  magical 
arts,  but  fearful  lest  they  might  be  tempted  at  some 
future  time  to  return  to  them,  they  resolved  to  put  out 
of  their  reach  anything  likely  to  become  a  temptation, 
or  to  remind  them  of  their  former  method  of  obtaining 
unlawful  gain.      What  did  they  do?     They  brought 

*  Jos.  Ant.  viii.  2,  quoted  by  Lewin.  t  Acts  xix.  13, 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS.  261 

together  all  their  magical  books  and  burnt  them  !  We 
know  how  valuable  and  expensive  such  written  scrolls 
were  in  those  days;  perhaps  in  destroying  them  many 
parted  with  the  most  costly  and  valuable  part  of  their 
property.  Indeed,  the  estimated  value  was  about 
.£1800  or  £2000  of  our  money  —  some  even  say 
£7000  !  But  they  had  learned  "  to  count  all  things, 
but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  ;"  and  now  they  showed  how  willing  they  were  to 
"suffer  the  loss  of  all  things,  that  they  might  win 
Him."  Never  would  these  strange  "  burnings "  be 
forgotten  in  Ephesus.  The  Word  of  God  quickly 
spread.  The  name  of  Jesus  was  magnified.  Paul  thus 
"  out  of  weakness  was  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in 
fight,"  and  not  only  "  turned  to  flight,"  but  by  God's 
grace  turned  to  repentance  and  faith,  and  true  conver- 
sion, "  the  army  of  the  aliens." 


CHAPTEE  XV. 


%\t  tamli 


"  Oft  with  the  Spirit's  force 

His  arm  hath  quell'd  the  foe, 
And  laid  resistless  in  his  course 
The  alien  armies  low. 

Bent  on  such  glorious  toils, 

The  world  to  him  was  loss; 
Yet  all  his  trophies — all  his  spoils, 

He  hung  upon  the  Cross." 

"  Behold  us  at  Ephesus  in  the  year  65  !  .  .  .  Twenty  years  later, 
and  an  event,  both  insignificant  and  mighty,  takes  place  in  this  city. 
A  Christian  Church  has  been  born,  separated  from  the  bosom  of 
Paganism  like  an  isle  in  the  midst  of  the  sea." — Monod. 


lthough  Luke  makes  no  mention  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  gather,  from  a 
few  expressions  in  the  course  of  the 
Epistles,  that  Paul,  some  time  during  his 
residence  at  Ephesus,  paid  a  visit  to  the  city 
of  Corinth.  "  Of  all  the  churches  which  he 
planted,"  it  has  been  well  said,  "in  none  was 
there  so  much  evil  mixed  up  with  so  much  good;  and 
the  training  of  so  wayward  a  child,  required  the  ut- 
most care  of  the  watchful  parent."* 

Apollos  had  now  come  back  from  that  Greek  city, 
and  doubtless  would  have  much  to  tell  the  Apostle 
about  the  state  of  his  converts  there — much  that 
would  cause  him  joy;  but,  we  fear,  more  that  made 
him  sad  and  sorrowful.  Corinth,  we  have  found,  was 
a  very  wicked  place ;  and  even  after  many  of  its  hea- 
then citizens  had  been  baptized  into  the  Christian 
name,  they  continued  to  live  in  the  indulgence  of  their 

*  Lewin,  p.  378. 


264  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

former  awful  sins.  Paul,  deeply  grieved  at  the  stain 
their  conduct  affixed  on  the  character  of  the  religion 
they  professed,  himself  sailed  across  from  Ephesus  to 
make  personal  inquiries  on  the  matter.  Alas!  he 
found  the  report  of  Apollos  too  true!  It  was  even 
worse  than  he  expected.  It  would  not  appear  that 
he  tarried  long  among  them  on  this  occasion — perhaps 
not  more  than  a  few  days  or  weeks.  He  had  hoped, 
doubtless,  by  this  visit,  to  check  the  growth  of  these 
crimes  for  the  future.  Not  long  after  his  return  to 
Ephesus,  however,  he  learnt  that  the  offenders  were 
increasing  in  their  daring  guilt.  He  resolved  to  adopt 
harsher  measures,  and  wrote  a  severe  letter  of  rebuke, 
which  is  now  lost. 

Nor  was  it  one  description  of  sin  alone  of  which  the 
Corinthians  were  guilty.  Some  members  of  a  Corin- 
thian family — "the  house  of  Chloe" — had  at  this  time 
come  to  reside  at  Ephesus.  They  informed  the  Apostle 
that  a  sad  party-spirit  was  continuing  among  his  con- 
verts in  the  capital  of  Achaia.  Some  Jewish  Chris- 
tians from  Palestine,  who  bitterly  disliked  Paul,  had 
been  successful  in  stirring  up  the  church  there  against 
him.  They  induced  some  to  look  up  to  Peter  (Ce- 
phas) as  their  head;  others,  to  St  James;  others,  who 
boasted  of  their  learning  and  wisdom,  to  Apollos. 
"  It  hath  been  declared  unto  me  of  you,  my  breth- 
ren," he  writes,  "  by  them  which  are  of  the  house  of 
Chloe,  that  there  are  contentions  among  you.  Now 
this  I  say,  that  every  one  of  you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul, 
and  I  of  Apollos,  and  I  of  Cephas,  and  I  of  Christ."* 
Add  to  this,  instead  of  settling  their  disputes  and 
differences,  as  they  ought  to  have  done,  with  one  an- 
*lCor.  i.  11, 12. 


THE  TUMULT.  265 

other,  they  had  been  going  to  the  courts  of  law,  and 
that,  too,  publicly  before  the  heathen  citizens  of  Cor- 
inth. Even  in  their  own  meetings  for  religious  wor- 
ship, there  had  been  much  vanity  and  show;  they 
seemed  to  be  loving  and  courting  the  praise  of  man 
more  than  the  praise  of  God.  The  very  hour  of  com- 
munion was  profaned  with  their  sins.  In  that  age,  it 
would  seem  that  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
generally  took  place  after  the  agape,  or  concluding- 
meal  of  the  day.  The  Corinthians  had  impiously  got 
into  the  habit  of  partaking  of  it  just  as  a  common 
feast, — the  rich  bringing  their  dainties,  and  the  poor 
often  not  having  enough  to  eat. 

In  the  mean  time,  Paul  selected  Timothy  and  Eras- 
tus  to  go  to  Corinth,  and  wait  there  his  own  arrival, 
— endeavouring,  in  the  interval,  to  bring  the  church 
to  a  sense  of  its  many  sins,  and  to  heal  its  party-divi- 
sions. Timothy  you  already  well  know.  Erastus 
seems  to  have  been  a  citizen  of  Corinth,  converted  to 
the  faith  of  Jesus,  and  one  of  some  standing  there. 
"We  find  him,  the  following  year,  chamberlain  of  the 
city.  Though  it  was  a  circuitous  way  of  reaching 
Corinth,  Paul  asked  these  two  faithful  men  to  visit,  in 
going  thither,  the  churches  of  Macedonia — to  acquaint 
them  of  his  own  intended  coming,  and  to  request  them 
to  be  ready  with  their  money-collection  for  the  poor 
Christians  in  Judea.  Other  messengers  from  Corinth 
— Stephanas,  Fortunatus,  and  Achaicus — had  by  this 
time  arrived,  bearing  a  reply  to  the  Apostle's  letter, 
and  also  bringing  from  their  church  a  number  of  ques- 
tions on  difficult  points  of  conduct,  duty,  and  doctrine, 
upon  which  they  wished  his  judgment.  Paul  set  him- 
self immediately  to  answer  these.     His  answer  consists 


266  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

of  what  is  known  to  us  by  the  name  of  "  The  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.'"  It  was  written,  probably, 
some  time  or  other  in  March,  or  April,  and  during  the 
third  year  of  his  residence  at  Ephesus.  This  letter  is 
full  of  sharp  rebukes  for  the  many  and  grievous  sins 
which  disgraced  that  much-loved  church.  It  does  not 
seem  to  bear  his  wonted  tender  affection  for  them,  but 
threatens  them  with  "  the  rod"  if  they  still  continue  in 
their  guilt.  He  afterwards,  however,  lets  us  into  the 
true  state  of  his  feelings  while  writing  it, — "Out  of 
much  affliction  and  anguish  of  heart  I  wrote  unto  you 
with  many  tears."  *  It  contains  much  important  and 
precious  truth.  Its  beautiful  15th  chapter  especially, 
has  afforded  joy  and  consolation  to  millions — opening 
up  to  them  hopes  which  are  "full  of  immortality." 
We  gather,  from  the  close  of  the  letter,  that  the  Apostle 
was  planning  the  journey  to  which  we  have  referred, 
through  the  churches  of  Macedonia  to  Corinth,  and 
from  thence  he  purposed  to  go  to  Jerusalem ;  indeed, 
he  even  looked  farther  before  him,  intending  to  pro- 
ceed, were  it  his  Lord's  will,  to  visit  the  world's  dis- 
tant capital  itself — imperial  Rome. 

Meanwhile  he  sent  Titus,  and  probably  Trophimus, 
with  the  answer  to  the  Corinthian  letter,  requesting 
the  former  to  use  all  his  influence  in  putting  matters 
to  rights  in  that  erring  church.  Titus  was  himself  a 
native  of  Corinth.  He  seemed  to  have  shrunk  from 
this  difficult  mission,  knowing  too  well  the  sad  repute 
of  the  city;  but  Paul  encouraged  him  to  go,  and  he 
seems  to  have  had  no  cause  to  regret  having  obeyed ; 
for  we  thus  find  the  Great  Apostle,  in  an  after  Corin- 
thian epistle,  referring  to  the  way  they  had  received 

*  2  Cor.  ii.  14. 


THE  TUMULT. 


267 


Titus  : "  Therefore  we  were  comforted  in  your  com- 
fort: yea,  and  exceedingly  the  more  joyed  we  for  the 
joy  of  Titus,  because  his  spirit  was  refreshed  by  you 
all.  For  if  I  have  boasted  any  thing  to  him  of  you,  I 
am  not  ashamed;  but  as  we  spake  all  things  to  you  in 
truth,  even  so  our  boasting,  which  I  made  before  Titus, 
is  found  a  truth.  And  his  inward  affection  is  more 
abundant  toward  you,  whilst  he  remembereth  the  obe- 
dience of  you  all,  how  with  fear  and  trembling  ye  re- 
ceived him.  I  rejoice  therefore  that  I  have  confidence 
in  you  in  all  things."  * 

Meanwhile  the  Apostle  himself  lingered  a  little  while 
behind  at  Ephesus,  hopeful  that  Timothy  and  Titus, 
meeting  together  at  Corinth,  and  using  their  joint 
exertions,  would  prepare  the  minds  of  the  professing 
converts  there  for  his  coming  to  them  "  in  peace." 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  Apollos,  Gaius,  and  Aristarchus, 
remained  with  him  at  Ephesus,  aad  perhaps  also 
Luke.  The  latter  we  have  for  some  time  lost  sight  of. 
It  has  been  thought  that  he  had  been  busy  meanwhile 
in  writing  his  Gospel,  which  he  soon  after  published  in 
Macedonia.t 

It  was  at  this  period  that  a  new  event  took  place  in 
the  city  of  Ephesus,  which  at  the  moment  threatened 
to  bring  the  Apostle  into  great  danger,  but  which,  in  the 
end,  turned  out  "rather  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
Gospel."  A  large  and  lucrative  trade  seems  to  have 
been  carried  on  there  in  the  manufacture  of  copies  or 
models  of  the  shrine  of  the  goddess  Diana.  At  one 
season  of  the  year,  in  particular,— the  month  of  May, — 
multitudes  from  all  parts  of  Asia,  and  even  of  Europe, 
crowded  to  the  great  annual  festival  in  honour  of  the 

*  2  Cor.  vii.  13-1G.  t  Lewiu. 


268  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

deity.  If  you  look  at  Paul's  first  letter  to  the  Co- 
rinthians, of  which  I  have  just  been  speaking,  you 
will  find  one  reason  he  gives  for  not  leaving  Ephesus 
at  present  was,  "  that  a  great  door  and  effectual  was 
opened  unto  him,  and  there  were  many  enemies."* 
Might  he  not — or  rather,  does  he  not — in  this,  allude  to 
the  glorious  opportunity  afforded  him  of  preaching  the 
Gospel  when  "  all  the  world  "  were  collected  together 
at  these  memorable  games  ? — just  as  the  honoured 
Whitfield  more  than  once  erected  his  tent  on  the  race- 
course, to  proclaim  in  the  ears  of  those  who  were 
"  minding  earthly  things,"  the  better  and  more  endur- 
ing substance.  A  whole  month,  called  "  Artemisius"  or 
the  "  month  of  Diana,"  was  allotted  every  year  to  this 
great  festival-gathering.  What  a  concourse  it  must 
have  been  !  You  can  look  at  the  picture  of  the  city, 
and  imagine  the  hundreds  of  vessels  crowding  the  har- 
bour— gaily-painted  boats  flitting  up  and  down  the 
basin  of  Panormus — crowds  of  pilgrims  looking  from 
the  heights  of  Mount  Prion — pleasure-hunters  in  all 
directions — the  Theatre,  with  its  shows — the  Hippo- 
drome, with  its  horse-racing — the  wrestling  and  beast- 
fighting  in  the  huge  Stadium  to  the  left — individuals 
dressed  up  in  fancy  costume — mock  gods  and  mock 
goddesses — Jupiters,  with  their  glittering  crowns,  bolts 
of  war,  and  white  sandals — Apollo,  with  his  wreath 
of  laurel  and  white  robes — and  Mercury,  with  dress 
appropriate  to  the  swift-footed  messenger  of  the  deities 
of  Olympus.t  To  complete  the  picture,  you  may 
imagine  thousands  of  eyes,  old  and  young,  entranced 
with  wonder  as  they  gazed  on  the  Ionic  columns  of  the 

*  1  Cor.  xvi.  9. 

f  Don-minus.     See  the  quotation  in  full  by  Mr  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  441. 


THE  TUMULT.  269 

great  temple,  or  as  they  followed  thither  the  bleating  sa- 
crifices, crowned  with  garlands.  Goats'-hair  tents,  too, 
would  be  dotted  over  the  plain  outside  the  city  walls 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  vast  number  of  strangers. 
Who  can  tell  but  some  of  these  may  have  been  the 
handiwork  of  the  Great  Apostle,  who  was  still  night 
and  day  "  labouring  that  he  might  be  chargeable  to  no 
man  "  1 

You  can  imagine,  too,  how  the  shops  and  bazaars 
would  be  filled  with  everything  attractive  for  the  visitors. 
Parents,  who  had  left  their  children  behind,  were  in  the 
habit  of  buying  for  them  little  memorials  of  their  visit. 
Among  these  souvenirs  there  was  one  that  commanded 
a  more  especial  sale — few  pilgrims  returned  home  with- 
out carrying  along  with  them  one  of  the  copies  or 
models  of  the  famous  shrine.  They  were  made  either 
of  gold,  silver,  or  wood,  as  the  purchaser  could  afford, 
and  were  called  Aphidrumata*  There  was  one  maker 
of  these  who  had  many  workmen  under  him  — his 
name  was  Demetrius.  He  was  beginning  to  find  that 
the  influence  and  preaching  of  Paul  in  town  and  round 
about  was  seriously  interfering  with  the  sale  of  his 
images.  The  Apostle  had  been  pointing  the  people, 
not  to  Diana,  but  to  Jesus  Christ  as  their  only  Saviour; 
doubtless  telling  them,  as  he  had  done  the  Athenians, 
that  "  the  Godhead  was  not  like  to  wood  or  stone,  or 
brass,  graven  with  man's  device,"  and  that  there  was 
but  "  one  name  given  under  heaven  among  men  by 
which  sinners  could  be  saved."  Demetrius  resolved  to 
do  what  he  could  to  crush  those  who  were  so  ruining  his 
trade.  The  month  of  May  had  by  this  time  returned. 
The  Ionians  were  already  crowding  again  with  their 

*  Dionysius  ii.  22. 


270  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

wives  and  children  to  the  city  to  take  part  in  the 
games  and  other  festivities  of  the  season.  Demetrius 
called  his  own  and  other  workmen  together,  and  ad- 
dressed them  on  the  subject.  It  was  an  easy  matter 
to  get  the^crowd  increased  in  such  a  place  as  Ephesus. 
He  began  by  telling  of  the  serious  loss  incurred  in 
their  lawful  trade ;  pointing,  as  we  may  suppose  him, 
with  his  finger,  to  the  vast  temple  in  their  view, 
he  sought  to  rouse  their  vengeance  against  Paul, 
whom  he  represented  as  "causing  the  great  goddess 
Diana  to  be  despised,  and  her  magnificence  destroyed." 
The  speech  had  the  desired  effect ;  they  were  filled 
with  wrath,  and  one  long  and  loud  shout  arose,  "  Great 
is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  ! "  *  The  whole  city  was 
filled  with  confusion ;  the  crowd  was  still  increasing,  and 
with  one  accord  they  cry  out,  "  To  the  Theatre  !  to  the 
Theatre  ! "  dragging  along  with  them  Paul's  two  com- 
panions, Gaius  and  Aristarchus.  The  theatre  was  the 
place  where  great  assemblages  on  political  matters 
generally  convened.  It  was  surrounded  with  stone- 
seats,  rising  one  above  the  other  all  around.  You  may 
imagine  the  rush  which  now  took  place  to  it,  each 
anxious  to  get  the  seat  most  advantageous  for  hear- 
ing. But  where  was  Paul  all  this  time  1  When  he 
heard  of  the  commotion,  how  his  Master's  name  was 
assailed,  and  the  truth  he  himself  proclaimed,  we  need 
not  say  he  would  be  the  first  in  desiring  to  answer 
publicly  the  charges  brought  against  him.  How  joy- 
fully would  he  have  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity 
of  preaching  the  glorious  Gospel  before  that  vast  con- 
course !  But  his  wiser  Christian  converts,  and  the 
"  chief  of  Asia"  (or  the  Asiarchs,  men  of  high  rank  and 

*  Acts  xix.  27,  28. 


THE  TUMULT.  271 

standing  in  the  kingdom),*  prevented  him  exposing 
himself  to  certain  danger  and  death.  The  mob  had 
rushed  to  the  house  of  Aquila,  expecting  to  find  him 
there,  but  they  had  secured  his  escape.  It  is  to  be 
feared  his  faithful  friends  Aquila  and  Priscilla  must 
have  been  rudely  handled  on  this  occasion.  Paul  tells 
us  that  they  had  "  for  his  life  laid  down  their  own 
necks."  t  He  talked  afterwards  of  having  "  fought  with 
wild  beasts  at  Ephesus."  If  he  had  gone  now  to  the 
Theatre,  he  would  have  been  obliged  to  encounter  wild 
beasts  in  a  human  form ;  his  kind  friends,  however, 
knowing  better  than  he  did  the  fury  of  an  Ephesian 
mob,  would  not  allow  him  to  hazard  himself.  It  has 
been  supposed,  indeed,  if  he  had  ventured  to  the 
Theatre,  the  base  passions  of  some  of  the  crowd,  and 
the  love  of  cruel  sport  among  others,  would  have  urged 
that  the  Apostle  be  given  up  to  one  of  those  terrible 
conflicts  with  wild  animals,  with  which  many  of  the 
early  martyrs  were  so  sadly  familiar.  Often,  we  know, 
were  the  Christians  in  an  after  age  accustomed  to  hear 
the  shout  of  the  enraged  populace,  "  Ad  bestias !  ad 
leonem ! "  May  it  not  be  to  this  Paul  refers  in  the 
verse  I  have  just  quoted  :  "  After  the  manner  of  men," 
or  rather,  "  according  to  the  intention  of  men," — the 
intention  of  this  Ephesus  mob, — "  I  have  fought  with 
wild  beasts  " — I  had  all  the  fearful  prospect  of  such  a 
death  !  Fortunately  for  the  Apostle,  the  "  Asiarchs  " 
interfered  for  his  safety.  With  them  rested  the 
power  of  entertaining  the  people  with  such  savage 
sport.     Old  Polycarp  was  brought  into  the  Theatre  at 

*  "  The  Asiarchs  had  the  oversight  of  the  sacred  places  of  the  city,  and 
were  required  to  manage  the  sacred  games  at  their  own  expense."— Ols- 
hausen,  in  loc. 

f  Rom.  xvi.  4. 


272  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Smyrna  to  be  torn  thus  by  lions;  but  the  Asiarch,  or 
governor  there  (Philip),  would  not  consent  to  let  the 
animals  loose  on  the  aged  man.*  Be  this  as  it  may, 
however,  we  may  well  imagine  Paul's  agony  of  mind 
when  he  heard  the  distant  tumult,  and  thought  of  his 
two  devoted  friends,  Gaius  and  Aristarchus,  about 
perhaps  to  be  cruelly  martyred,  while  he  had  escaped. 
Indeed,  we  know,  for  many  weeks  he  did  not  recover 
the  effects  of  this  agitation.  For  him,  however,  to 
have  ventured,  would  only  have  added  fuel  to  the  fire, 
and  been  certain  destruction  to  all.  When  the  people 
were  assembled  in  their  seats,  the  Jews,  who  wished 
to  show  that  they  hated  Paul  as  much  as  the  heathen, 
put  forward  one  of  their  own  number,  Alexander  the 
coppersmith,  a  man  of  fluent  speech,  and  bearing  a 
stern  hatred  to  the  Apostle.  Whenever  the  mob  saw 
he  was  a  Jew,  his  voice  was  drowned  with  their  clamour. 
They  would  not  hear  him  speak,  and  for  two  hours  the 
air  was  rent  with  the  cry,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephe- 
sians!"  When  they  could  cry  no  longer,  and  their 
spirits  and  voice  began  to  flag,  the  town-clerk,  or  "  re- 
corder," next  presented  himself  in  the  midst  of  the  ex- 
cited assembly.  He  was  an  individual  of  great  official 
influence,  and  had  the  charge  of  the  vast  sums  of 
money  and  other  treasures  which  were  kept  in  the 
temple.  In  his  speech,  he  shows  great  prudence  and 
tact  in  dealing  with  those  he  addressed.  He  began  by 
telling  them  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  their  temple 
and  goddess ;  that  its  fame  filled  the  world,  and  that 
one  or  two  poor  Jewish  strangers  would  never  for  a 
moment  be  able  to  inflict  upon  it  any  injury;  moreover, 
that  Paul  had  not,  as  was  alleged,  sought  in  any  way 

*  See  Fleetwood's  Lives  of  the  Apostles. 


THE  TUMULT.  27-J 

to  profane  the  shrine,  or  blaspheme  the  patron  deity. 
He  closes  his  address  by  reminding  them  of  the  danger 
of  such  tumultuary  meetings  as  the  present.  His 
powerful  words  had  the  desired  effect.  The  voices  of 
the  dense  crowd  were  stilled.  The  Theatre  gradually 
emptied,  and  they  dispersed  to  their  several  homes. 

We  have  no  further  notice  after  this  of  Paul's  do- 
ings at  Ephesus.  It  continued  for  long  an  impor- 
tant city  in  infant  Christendom.  The  Apostle  John 
is  believed  here  to  have  closed  his  mission  of  love  in 
peace,  and  his  dust  was  said  to  repose,  along  with  that 
of  Timothy,*  among  the  thickets  and  ruins  of  Mount 
Prion.  To  this  day,  a  little  mound  nearly  opposite 
Mount  Prion  has  a  small  village  on  its  crest,  bearing 
the  name  of  Aiasaluk,  a  corruption  of  Agios  Theologos 
(the  Holy  Divine),  t  In  Ephesus,  probably,  he  wrote 
his  Gospel  and  Epistles.  Here  it  was,  looking  down 
on  the  noblest  temple  ever  made  with  human  hands, 
that  he  "  remembered  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
how  he  said,"  "  God  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship 
him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  Tra- 
dition adds,  that  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus  closed  her 
honoured  life  in  the  same  city,  the  disciple  of  love  be- 
ing faithful  to  the  last  in  the  sacred  trust  committed 
to  him  by  his  Lord  on  the  cross  : — "  Son,  behold  thy 
mother;  and  from  that  hour,  that  disciple  took  her 
unto  his  own  home." 

*  "  The  body  of  Timothy  was  afterwards  translated  to  Constantinople 
by  the  founder  of  that  city,  or  his  son  Constantius,  and  placed  with  St 
Luke  and  St  Andrew  in  the  Church  of  the  Apostles."' — So  says  Chandler, 
p.  126. 

t  Stanley's  Sermons  on  the  Ai>oslolk  Age. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


faitWul  faster. 


"  I'm  not  asliamed  to  own  my  Lord, 

Or  to  defend  His  cause, 
Maintain  the  glory  of  His  cross, 
And  honour  all  His  laws." 

" '  Benjamin  shall  raven  as  a  wolf.  In  the  morning  he  shall  devour 
the  'prey,  and  at  night  he  shall  divide  the  spoil.'  This  prophetical 
character,  Tertullian,  and  others  after  him,  will  have  to  be  accom- 
plished in  our  apostle.  As  a  ravening  wolf  in  the  morning  devour- 
ing the  prey — that  is,  as  a  persecutor  of  the  churches — in  the  first 
part  of  his  life  destroying  the  flock  of  Cod.  In  the  evening  dividing 
the  spoil — that  is,  in  his  declining  and  reduced  age,  as  doctor  of  the 
nations,  feeding  and  distributing  to  Christ's  sheep." — Life  of  St  Paul, 
by  William  Cave,  D.D.,  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  his  Majesty. 
London,  1676. 


c//.i?  A.rEstiz' 


M  '  F  you  look  at  the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  Acts 
I  PV  of  the  Apostles,  and  first  verse,  you  will  find  a 
very  short  account,  given  by  St  Luke,  of  the 
next  nine  or  ten  months  of  Paul's  life : — "  He 
departed  for  to  go  into  Macedonia.  And 
when  he  had  gone  over  those  parts,  and  had  given 
them  much  exhortation,  he  came  into  Greece,  and 
there  abode  three  months."  Although  the  evangelist, 
in  his  narrative,  says  little  about  this  important  period 
of  the  Apostle's  history,  we  may  gather,  from  Paul's 
own  Epistles,  much  that  is  interesting  regarding  it. 
From  these,  we  find  that  he  went  from  Ephesus  to 
Troas,  probably  by  sea, — his  two  Ephesian  converts, 
Tychicus  and  Trophimus,  most  likely  accompanying 


276  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  FAUL. 

him.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  had  meanwhile  returned  to 
Rome, — the  edict  of  Claudius,  which  banished  them, 
being  now  removed. 

You  may  remember  his  former  hurried  visit  to 
Troas,  when  he  was  called  so  suddenly  away  elsewhere 
by  the  vision  of  the  man  of  Macedonia.  Now  he  re- 
mained a  longer  time ;  not  so  long,  however,  as  he  had 
intended,  in  consequence  of  Titus  not  making  his  ap- 
pearance with  tidings  about  the  church  at  Corinth. 
Titus  was  sent  thither  by  Paul  from  Ephesus,  not  only 
to  make  a  collection  for  the  poor  Christians  in  Jerusa- 
lem, but  also  to  discover  what  effect  his  own  letter  had 
produced  upon  them.  The  Apostle  seems  to  have 
waited,  week  after  week,  in  great  anxiety  for  the  re- 
turn of  his  younger  brother.  Days  passed  heavily 
away  without  any  tidings  of  him.  He  was  greatly 
disquieted  because  of  the  delay.  "  My  spirit,"  he  says, 
"  had  no  rest  because  I  found  not  Titus."  *  During 
his  stay  in  Troas,  he  had  much  encouragement.  "  A 
door  was  opened  to  him  of  the  Lord,"  and  he  very  soon 
after  came  back  again  to  carry  on  the  good  work  which 
he  had  now  commenced. 

Meanwhile  he  set  sail  for  Macedonia,  expecting  to 
meet  Titus  the  sooner,  who  was  coming  to  Troas  by 
that  route.  Landing  at  Neapolis,  he  went  thence  to 
Philippi.  From  his  Philippian  converts  he  had  re- 
ceived more  kindness,  and  less  cause  of  distress,  than 
from  any  other  church.  He  never  uses  towards  them 
a  word  of  censure.  They  were  a  poor  people.  He 
speaks  of  the  "depths  of  their  poverty;"  and  yet, 
three  several  times,  when  he  was  at  Thessalonica, 
Corinth,  and  Rome,  they  forced  him  to  take  money 

*  2  Cor.  ii.  13. 


THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR.  21  t 

they  had  collected  for  his  support.  "  The  Philippians 
are  in  the  Epistles  what  that  poor  woman  is  in  the  Gos- 
pels, who  placed  two  mites  in  the  treasury.  They  gave 
much,  because  they  gave  of  their  poverty;  and  wher- 
ever the  Gospel  is  preached  throughout  the  world, 
there  shall  this  liberality  be  told  for  a  memorial  of 
them."*  Their  example  proves  that  it  is  not  the 
wealthiest  church  which  is  always  the  most  liberal  in 
the  cause  of  God;  but  that  wherever  there  is  a  will- 
ing and  bounteous  heart,  there  will  be  a  generous  and 
giving  hand. 

We  may  imagine  Paul's  feelings  when  once  more 
among  his  much-loved,  I  was  going  to  say,  his  most- 
loved  church.  Six  years  had  passed  since  he  was  last 
there.  The  remembrance  of  the  shameful  treatment 
he  had  then  experienced — the  lictors'  rods — the  cruel 
stocks  —  the  dark  dungeon,  —  must  all  have  come 
vividly  to  his  mind;  but  his  sorrow  was  now  turned 
into  joy,  in  finding  himself  among  homes  and  hearts  so 
cherished.  The  load,  however,  was  still  on  his  spirit ; 
Titus  had  not  arrived,  and  he  could  not  help  feeling 
great  uneasiness  about  the  state  of  the  church  at  Cor- 
inth. He  knew,  indeed,  at  this  time,  that  not  the 
Corinthian  church  alone,  but  all  the  others,  were  in  no 
small  peril.  This  was  principally  on  account  of  those 
Jewish  teachers  who  were  jealous  of  their  old  national 
privileges,  and  who  wished  Christianity  not  to  be  the 
great  religion  of  the  world,  but  a  mere  branch  and  off- 
shoot of  Judaism.  We  can  understand,  therefore,  how 
the  "care  of  all  the  churches"  was  no  slight  matter  to 
a  mind  like  that  of  Paul;  and  with  what  anxiety  he 
waited  to  hear  how  his  remonstrances  had  been  received 

*  See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  89,  124. 


278  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

by  a  body  so  influential  as  that  of  the  believers  at  Cor- 
inth. 

At  last,  his  time  of  painful  suspense  terminates, — 
Titus  arrives.  "  God,  who  comforteth  them  that  are 
cast  down,  comforted  me  by  the  coming  of  Titus."* 
He  brings  much  more  joyful  intelligence  than  the 
Apostle  expected.  The  far  greater  number  of  the  Cor- 
inthians had  submitted  with  meekness  to  his  rebukes, 
and  had  cast  out  from  their  communion  the  offender 
who  had  been  special  cause  of  trouble.  They  longed 
for  the  Apostle's  presence  among  them  again,  and  were 
deeply  affected  at  the  thought  of  having  cost  him  so 
much  pain.  Still  there  remained,  however,  a  small 
party  of  these  Judaising  Christians,  who  were  doing 
what  they  could  to  sow  the  seeds  of  dissension.  They 
had  ranged  themselves  under  some  designing  ring- 
leader, who  had  probably  been  sent  by  the  sect  in 
Jerusalem.  He  had  come  in  as  a  wolf  into  the  fold, 
doing  what  he  could  to  undermine  the  Apostle's  autho- 
rity, and  even  turn  his  outward  appearance  and  im- 
paired eyesight  into  ridicule.t  It  is  needful  that  we 
keep  in  mind  these  two  parties  into  which  the  church 
at  Corinth  was  now  divided,  in  order  to  understand 
aright  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  which 
the  Apostle  now  wrote.  This  was  sent  back  to  them 
by  the  hands  of  Titus,  accompanied  by  two  other 
deputies,  who  were  proceeding,  at  any  rate,  to  renew 
the  collection  for  the  Jerusalem  Christians. 

You  remember,  I  daresay,  how  unwilling  Titus  was, 
on  a  former  occasion,  to  go  to  so  wicked  a  place  as 
Corinth ;  it  is  different,  however,  with  him  now.  The 
Apostle  thus  expresses  his  happiness  at  the  change  of 

*  2  Cor.  vii.  6.  t  See  2  Cor.  x.  1,  2,  10,  31. 


THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR.  27 U 

feeling  in  his  young  brother's  mind, — "  But  thanks  be 
to  God,  which  put  the  same  earnest  care  into  the  heart 
of  Titus  for  you.  For  indeed  he  accepted  the  exhorta- 
tion; but,  being  more  forward,  of  his  own  accord  he 
went  unto  you."*  In  reading  the  epistle  for  your- 
selves, you  will  find  Paul  addresses  both  parties.  To 
the  one,  in  the  first  half  of  the  letter,  he  speaks  in  lan- 
guage of  kindness  and  consolation ;  to  the  other,  in 
words  of  stern  remonstrance  and  rebuke. 

After  Titus  left,  the  Apostle  proceeded  to  visit 
some  of  the  churches  in  the  northern  part  of  Greece. 
While  making  this  circuit,  he  fulfilled  his  promise 
to  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem  regarding  the  "  col- 
lection." He  seems,  as  you  must  have  noted,  to  have 
been  very  zealous  in  this  matter.  He  felt  that,  since 
the  apostles  of  Christianity  were  Jews,  and  had  mini- 
stered to  the  Gentiles  in  spiritual  things,  they  ought 
to  minister  in  return  to  them  in  "carnal  things." t 
The  method  he  seems  to  have  enforced  on  his  converts 
was  to  lay  by  a  sum  of  money  every  Sabbath  morning 
(the  first  day  of  the  week).  The  Corinthians,  who 
were  the  most  able  to  give  of  all  the  churches,  had 
been  thus  gathering  their  contributions  for  a  whole 
year,  and  their  readiness  was  held  up  to  the  Mace- 
donians for  imitation — "  For  I  know  the  forwardness 
of  your  mind,  for  which  I  boast  of  you  to  them  of 
Macedonia,  that  Achaia  was  ready  a  year  ago  ;  and 
your  zeal  hath  provoked  very  many."  %  The  zeal  of 
the  Macedonians,  however,  poorer  though  they  were, 
so  exceeded  that  of  the  Achaians,  that  we  find  the 
Apostle  afterwards  making  the  less  opulent  churches 
read   a   lesson   of  liberality   to   the  wealthy   one  : — 

*  2  Cor.  viii.  16,  17.  t  Rom.  xv.  27.  J  2  Cor.  ix  2. 


280  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

"  Moreover,  brethren,  we  do  you  to  wit  of  the  grace  of 
God  bestowed  on  the  churches  of  Macedonia;  how 
that  in  a  great  trial  of  affliction,  the  abundance  of  their 
joy,  and  their  deep  poverty,  abounded  unto  the  riches 
of  their  liberality.  For  to  their  power,  (I  bear  record,) 
yea,  and  beyond  their  power,  they  were  willing  of 
themselves  ;  praying  us  with  much  entreaty  that  we 
would  receive  the  gift,  and  take  upon  us  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  ministering  to  the  saints.  And  this  they 
did,  not  as  we  hoped;  but  first  gave  their  own  selves 
to  the  Lord,  and  unto  us  by  the  will  of  God.  .  .  . 
Therefore,  as  ye  abound  in  every  thing,  in  faith,  and 
utterance,  and  knowledge,  and  in  all  diligence,  and  in 
your  love  to  us,  see  that  ye  abound  in  this  grace 
also.  I  speak  not  by  commandment,  but  by  occasion 
of  the  forwardness  of  others,  and  to  prove  the  sin- 
cerity of  your  love."  *  AVe  find  soon  afterwards,  when 
the  money  was  all  collected,  that  Luke,  and  probably 
Trophimus,  were  to  be  the  bearers  of  it  to  Jerusa- 
lem. They  are  spoken  of  as  "  the  messengers  of  the 
churches."  t 

Paul  seems  at  present  to  have  travelled  farther  west 
than  on  any  of  his  former  journeys.  It  is  possible  he 
may  even  have  gone  to  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic  Sea ; 
for  we  read  "that  he  fully  preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
round  about  unto  Illyricum."J  What  the  particular 
towns  were  he  visited,  we  are  not  informed,  as  Luke  was 
no  longer  with  him  as  an  eye-witness.  Pursuing,  in  a 
westerly  direction,  the  Via  Egnatia,  from  Berea  (from 
which  town,  you  will  remember,  he  was  formerly 
obliged  to  take  flight),  he  would  probably  come  to 
Pella,  the  birth-place  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  Pela- 

*  2  Cor.  viii.  1-8.  f  2  Cor.  viii.  23.  J  Rom.  xv.  19. 


THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR.  281 

gonia,  the  capital  of  that  district  of  Macedonia.  He 
turned  his  steps,  probably  about  the  beginning  of  win- 
ter, towards  Corinth.  How  he  journeyed  thither  it  is 
also  impossible  to  determine ;  whether  he  would  take 
the  high-road  from  Berea  to  the  Isthmus,  or,  what  is 
perhaps  more  probable,  return  to  Thessalonica,  and 
take  vessel  from  that  sea-port.  On  the  Isthmian  city 
his  fondest  thoughts — his  hopes  and  fears — had  been 
long,  as  you  have  seen,  centred.  We  may  imagine  with 
what  emotions  he  now  approached  it,  as  its  spacious  har- 
bour opened  to  his  view,  and  the  rocky  citadel  which  rose 
above  it.  His  feelings,  in  many  respects,  must  have  been 
of  a  saddening  kind  as  he  once  more  trod  its  busy  streets ; 
and  yet  how  much  cause,  too,  for  gratitude  had  he 
since  his  first  visit  !  Then  he  was  all  alone — solitary 
and  friendless.  He  had  come  from  a  disheartening 
visit  to  Athens,  where  a  mere  handful  and  no  more 
had  listened  to  his  teaching.  Now,  he  was  no  longer 
a  stranger — he  was  on  his  way  with  some  faithful 
companions  to  a  house  which  his  former  visit  had 
opened  to  him, — that  of  Gaius, — a  kind  and  good 
Christian,  whom,  as  you  already  know,  the  Apostle  had 
baptized  with  his  own  hand,  and  whose  many  charities 
were  known  to  all  the  churches.  Though  greatly 
grieved  to  think  of  the  sins  which  had  crept  in  among 
his  converts,  and  the  violent  opposition  raised  by 
others  against  himself,  still  Paul  must  have  rejoiced 
in  knowing  that  within  these  walls  were  many  warm 
Christian  hearts — many  true  sons  of  the  faith.  It  is, 
besides,  a  deeply-interesting  circumstance,  that  so  noble 
a  band  of  faithful  ministers — standard-bearers  of  the 
Cross* — were  now  assembled  at  Corinth,  who  had  to- 

*  See  Lewin,  vol.  ii.  p.  530. 


282  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

gether,  there  and  elsewhere,  proved  mighty  through 
God  to  the  pulling  down  of  Satan's  strongholds.  There 
was  Luke,  the  polished  physician  ;  there  was  the  gentle 
and  pious  Timothy;  there  was  Titus,  the  calm  and 
discreet  adviser ;  there  was  Jason,  who  had  risked  his 
life  for  the  Apostle  at  Thessalonica ;  there  was  Tychi- 
cus,  a  faithful  brother  to  the  last,  when  others  grew 
faithless  ;  there  was  Erastus  and  Sosthenes,  miracles  of 
grace  from  Corinth  itself;  and  not  to  make  mention  of 
others,  there  was  the  Great  Apostle,  a  befitting  chief, 
at  the  head  of  this  noble  army.  How  different  when 
he  approached  Damascus,  many  years  before,  at  the 
head  of  another  band! — the  haughty  young  Pharisee, 
burning  with  false  zeal — proud  of  his  sect  and  of  his 
national  descent.  Now,  he  is  poor,  weary,  weighed 
down  "  with  the  care  of  all  the  churches,"  but  "  the 
peace  of  God,"  which  he  himself  speaks  of  as  "  passing 
all  understanding,"  is  "  garrisoning  his  heart ; "  though 
he  walks  in  the  midst  of  trouble,  "the  Lord  revives 
him,"  and  a  bright  crown  of  joy  and  rejoicing  is  wait- 
ing him  on  "that  day  ! " 

There  were,  however,  tidings  of  sorrow  of  another 
kind,  waiting  him  on  his  arrival,  which  he  did  not  ex- 
pect. The  Church  of  Galatia,  which  had  promised  so 
well  at  first,  was  beginning  to  be  sorely  affected  by  the 
doctrines  and  influences  of  these  same  Judaisers.  They 
were  doing  all  in  their  power  to  weaken  the  hold  which 
Paul  had  over  his  affectionate  "  Gauls."  They  had 
tried  to  persuade  them  that  he  was  not  "  an  apostle," 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word, — not  one  of  the  twelve 
who  were  appointed  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  but  a  mere 
teacher,  not  worthy  of  the  credit  due  to  the  others. 
The  influence  of  these  "  false  brethren "  was  great ; 


THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR.  283 

they  got  many  of  the  "fickle  Galatians"  to  turn  from 
the  "  simplicity  of  the  truth."  Several  underwent  the 
rite  of  circumcision,  imagining  that  it  was  necessary  to 
their  salvation.  It  was  a  proof  of  what  we  described 
them  to  be — a  strangely  fitful  people !  A  few  years 
before,  they  would  gladly,  if  they  could,  have  "  torn 
out  their  own  eyes,"  and  given  them  to  Paul  as  a  token 
of  their  attachment,  and  worshipped  him  as  an  angel ; 
but  now  they  had  listened  to  artful  seducers,  who  had 
"  troubled  them  and  perverted  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 
How  different  to  the  steady,  fixed  Christian  principle 
of  the  Great  Apostle  himself !  They  were  like  the 
waves  of  the  sea,  driven  by  the  wind  and  tossed, — he, 
like  the  rock  which  nothing  could  shake.  What  is  he 
to  do  1  will  he  take  vessel,  once  more,  and  go  person- 
ally to  rebuke  them  ]  The  distance  is,  for  the  present, 
too  great  •  and,  besides,  he  has  other  work  in  hand  in 
the  disorders  at  Corinth;  but  the  pen  must  do  what 
the  human  voice  cannot.  He  writes,  from  Corinth,  his 
"  Epistle  to  the  Galatians."  In  sharp  and  severe  terms 
he  therein  reproves  his  converts  "for  being  removed 
so  far  unto  another  gospel."  It  must  have  been  under 
the  influence  of  deep  feeling  he  could  pen  such  words 
as  these, — "  0  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched 
you,  that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth?"  "But 
though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other 
gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we  have  preached 
unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed.  As  we  said  before,  so 
say  I  now  again,  If  any  man  preach  any  other  gospel 
unto  you  than  that  ye  have  received,  let  him  be 
accursed."  * 

After  the  messengers  were  sent  to  Ephesus  with  this 

*  Gal.  i.  S,  9. 


284  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

letter  of  reproof,  Paul  proceeded  to  expel  from  the 
church  at  Corinth  those  individuals  who  had  been 
the  cause  of  so  much  evil  in  it.  The  "  signs  of  an 
apostle  "  were  wrought  before  them,  in  order  to  show 
the  Divine  authority  by  which  he  taught.  He  ex- 
hibited his  Divine  mission  by  the  working  of  miracles  ; 
and  by  this  means  many  who  had  before  questioned 
his  authority  must  have  been  silenced.  But  he  must 
make  an  example  of  those  who  had  not  only  so  deeply 
distressed  himself,  but  who  had  wrought  such  mischief 
in  the  Church  of  God.  A  solemn  assembly  is  convened 
— the  wicked  and  unholy  members  are  cast  out,  no 
longer  permitted  to  hold  communion  with  their  bre- 
thren. Whether  they  ever  sincerely  repented,  and  were 
again  restored  to  the  privilege  of  church-fellowship, 
we  cannot  tell.  There  is  no  more  mention  made  after 
this  of  "the  church  at  Corinth."  We  have  reason 
to  hope  that  Paul's  present  visit  had  been  much  blest 
to  many,  and  that  the  casting  out  of  this  "  unholy 
leaven"  had  not  only  saved,  but  purified  the  remain- 
ing lump.  We  have  a  letter  remaining  still,  written 
by  the  same  Clement  whom  Paul  calls  his  "fellow- 
labourer,"  in  which  he  refers  to  the  consistency,  for 
many  years  at  least,  of  their  walk  and  conduct.  "  Who 
that  visited  you,"  says  this  good  man,  whose  name 
Paul  tells  us  is  in  "  the  Book  of  Life,"  "  did  not  ad- 
mire your  sober  and  gentle  piety  in  Christ  ?  For  ye 
did  all  things  without  respect  of  persons,  and  walked 
in  the  laws  of  God,  obeying  those  who  were  set  over 
you,  and  ye  were  all  humble-minded,  subjecting  your- 
selves rather  than  subjecting  others." 

The  Great  Apostle  seems  in  this  closing  visit  to  have 
spent  about   three    months   in   Corinth   and  Achaia, 


THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR.  285 

"  watering  the  churches,"  and  collecting  money  for 
that  great  object  so  near  his  heart,  to  which  we  have 
so  often  referred. 

There  was  one  never-to-be-forgotten  occupation 
which  at  this  time  engaged  his  spare  moments.  A 
wealthy  lady  of  the  neighbourhood,  a  widow,  and  dea- 
coness of  the  church,  whose  house  was  at  Cenchrea, 
was  about  to  go  to  Rome.  A  rising  and  promising 
church  of  Christians,  chiefly  Gentiles,  was  already 
formed  in  the  world's  great  capital.  Paul  had  long 
meditated  a  visit  thither,  on  his  way  to  Spain,  after 
accomplishing  his  journey  to  Jerusalem;  but  being  a 
comparative  stranger  personally  to  the  members  of 
the  Roman  church,  he  thought  it  would  be  well  to 
send  them  by  her  a  letter  beforehand,  to  assure  them 
of  his  affection,  touching  also  on  the  points  in  which 
he  knew  they  needed  most  direction.  It  was  dictated 
to  Tertius  the  scribe,  with  the  exception  of  the  closing 
benediction,  which,  as  usual,  was  written  by  Paul  in  his 
own  hand.  .We  have  had  again  and  again  occasion  to 
speak  of  the  evil  influence  the  Judaising  teachers  were 
exercising  in  the  different  churches  the  Apostle  had 
founded.  Pie  seemed  anxious  to  have  some  written 
treatise  that  would  be  serviceable  in  putting  down 
their  false  doctrines,  an&  which  would  be  regarded  as 
a  rule  of  faith  for  all  his  churches.  The  Spirit  of  God 
wisely  guided  him  in  composing  that  wondrous  "  body 
of  divinity,"  contained  in  the  "  Epistle  to  the  Romans" 
where  the  grand  central  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  what 
Luther  called  "  the  doctrine  of  a  standing  or  a  falling 
Church,"  is  brought  so  beautifully  out — viz.,  Justifica- 
tion by  Faith.  It  forms,  indeed,  a  noble  manual  on 
the  great  peculiar  truths  of  Christianity.     Chrysostom 


286  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

may  well  call  it  "the  golden  key  of  Scripture ;"  and 
the  older  my  readers  become,  the  more  they  will  value 
and  admire  it.  It  sometimes  interests  us  to  know 
where  a  great  General  penned  his  despatches,  or  a  great 
poet  his  immortal  strains  ;  we  read  these  with  greater 
zest  by  connecting  them  with  the  spots  where  they 
were  written.  You  may  in  future  think  of  the  Great 
Apostle,  during  his  present  residence  at  Corinth,  seated 
in  some  quiet  chamber  in  the  house  of  Gaius ;  his  win- 
dow, it  may  be,  looking  out  on  the  heights  of  Acro- 
corinthus,  or  on  the  blue  waves  of  the  Ionian  sea,  and 
with  Tertius  seated,  pen  in  hand,  at  a  table  by  his 
side,  dictating  to  him  his  most  precious  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  It  is  evident  from  the  close  of  the  epistle 
that,  although  he  himself  had  never  been  in  Rome,  he 
was  acquainted  with  several  Christian  families  there. 
The  reason  of  this  may  probably  be,  that  many,  like 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  who  had  been  expelled  by  the 
edict  of  Claudius,  had  met  with  the  Apostle  at  Corinth, 
Ephesus,  and  elsewhere,  and  contracted  a  valued  friend- 
ship with  him.  You  will  observe,  in  the  messages  or 
salutations  in  the  concluding  chapter,  that  he  mentions 
two  whole  families,  and  twenty-six  individuals,  with 
some  distinct  allusion  to  their  individual  characters.* 
Although,  therefore,  he  had  never  "  seen  their  face  in 
the  flesh,"  he  seems  to  have  felt  no  common  interest  in 
their  welfare — "  he  made  mention  of  them  always  in 
his  prayers."  t 

The  time  had  now  come  when  St  Paul  had  to  bid 
farewell  to  the  church  and  converts  at  Corinth.  His 
first  purpose  seems  to  have  been  to  take  ship,  like 
Phoebe,  and  sail,  direct  to  Jerusalem ;  but  his  plans 

*  Lewin,  vol.  i.  p.  536.  f  Rom.  i.  9. 


THE  FAITHFUL.  PASTOR.  287 

were  changed  on  discovering  a  new  plot  for  his  destruc- 
tion, secretly  concocted  by  the  Jews,  who  had  been 
greatly  irritated  against  him  ever  since  the  decision  of 
Gallio.  What  the  precise  nature  of  the  plot  they  had 
laid  was,  we  cannot  tell :  possibly  they  had  hired  an 
assassin  to  despatch  him  on  the  road  to  Cenchrea ;  or, 
perhaps,  they  had  contrived  some  plan  to  seize  him 
after  he  had  embarked,  and  plundering  him  of  his  col- 
lection-money, to  make  the  iEgean  Sea  his  grave.  To 
escape  from  their  fury,  he  resolved  to  go  round  for 
safety  by  the  north  of  Greece;  this  would  enable  him 
also  to  visit  all  his  churches  by  the  way — Thessalonica, 
Apollonia,  and  Amphipolis.  He  must  have  painfully 
felt  the  continual  peril  to  which  he  was  exposed.  He 
could  not  look  without  fear  to  the  future  ;  for  if  the 
enmity  of  distant  Jews  was  so  great,  what  might  he  ex- 
pect on  reaching  Jerusalem  itself?  He  thus  refers  to 
his  danger  in  his  letter  just  written  to  Rome  : — "Now 
I  beseech  you,  brethren,  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ's 
sake,  and  for  the  love  of  the  Spirit,  that  ye  strive  to- 
gether with  me  in  your  prayers  to  God  for  me ;  that 
I  may  be  delivered  from  them  that  do  not  believe  in 
Judea;  and  that  my  service  which  I  have  for  Jerusalem 
may  be  accepted  of  the  saints."'"  The  companions  of 
this  journey,  we  are  told  (in  the  20th  chapter  of  Acts, 
ver.  4),  were  Sopater,  the  Berean ;  Aristarchus  and 
Secundus,  of  Thessalonica ;  Gaius,  of  Derbe,  and 
Timotheus;  also  Tychicus  and  Trophimus,  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Asia.  These,  however,  the  better  to  effect 
the  escape  of  St  Paul,  took  ship  direct  to  Troas,  while 
he  and  Luke  proceeded  in  hasto  by  land  to  the  north 
of  Greece.      When  they  reached  his  favourite  city  and 

*  Rom.  xv.  30,  31. 


288  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

church  of  Philippi,  it  was  the  time  of  the  Jewish  pass- 
over,  which  lasted  eight  days.  Here  the  Apostle  and 
his  historian  lingered,  during  the  celebration  of  the  old 
Jewish  rite,  now  fulfilled  in  the  great  Antitype,  "  Christ 
our  passover,  sacrificed  for  us."  They  then  hasten  to 
follow  the  steps  of  their  friends;  this  more  especi- 
ally as  Paul  was  desirous  of  reaching  Jerusalem  before 
the  feast  of  Pentecost.  Coming  down,  therefore,  to 
Neapolis,  they  embarked  on  board  some  ship  bound 
for  Troas, — a  voyage  which,  under  favourable  circum- 
stances, ought  not  to  have  taken  two  days,  but  which, 
in  the  present  instance,  either  by  reason  of  adverse 
winds  or  a  calm,  was  lengthened  to  five.*  The  Apos- 
tle's previous  visit  to  Troas,  you  will  remember,  was  a 
hurried  one  j  his  anxious  spirit  could  get  no  rest  or 
comfort  from  Titus  not  being  there  to  meet  him  as  he 
expected.  Now  he  hopes  to  be  able  to  add  to  the 
church,  whose  foundation  he  had  formerly  laid.  He 
seems  to  have  arrived  at  an  early  part  of  the  week. 
How  he  occupied  it,  we  are  not  informed ;  we  may 
well  believe  he  was  actively  engaged  in  proclaiming 
his  great  message,  and  all  the  more  so  as  his  time  was 
precious.  In  order  to  attend  the  feast  at  Jerusalem, 
he  required  to  be  in  Palestine  by  the  9th  of  May.  He 
evidently  remained  at  Troas  longer  than  he  intended. 
His  detention  probably  was  caused  by  being  obliged  to 
wait  the  sailing  of  the  ship,  which  might  have  taken 
all  that  time  to  unload  her  cargo  and  get  in  a  fresh 
one  ;  possibly  he  may  have  been  retarded  in  sailing  by 
adverse  winds.  We  have  an  interesting  account,  how- 
ever, left  us  of  his  Sabbath  duties  in  this  old  city.  The 
little  church  at  Troas  were  convened  together  in  a 

*  See  Howson,  vol.  ii.  p.  210. 


THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR.  289 

small  and  confined  upper  chamber  on  the  evening  of 
that  day.  The  place  was  intensely  hot,  from  the  dense 
crowd  collected  and  the  many  lights  burning  in  the 
chamber.  The  Apostle,  feeling  that,  as  he  was  to  leave 
on  the  morrow,  this  might  possibly  be  the  last  oppor- 
tunity he  would  ever  have  of  speaking  to  them  about 
their  souls,  continued  his  address  until  midnight.  Mid- 
night arrived  ;  but  still  the  earnest  man  of  God,  tak- 
ing no  note  of  time,  proceeded  to  urge  his  high  lessons 
on  a  breathless  audience.  There  was  a  young  hearer 
seated  at  one  of  the  open  windows  or  balconies,  which 
are  common  in  the  houses  of  the  East,  overhanging 
the  court  below.  He  had  ventured  too  near  the  ledge ; 
and  being  overcome,  partly  with  the  heat  and  partly 
with  sleep,  he  fell  down  to  the  pavement,  and  was 
"  taken  up  dead."  Paul  immediately  ceased  speaking. 
He  descended  to  the  anxious  crowd,  who  were  now 
gathered  round  the  youth ;  and  in  the  spirit  and  power 
of  his  Master,  he  brought  him  back  to  life.  You  may 
imagine  the  joy,  not  only  of  the  friends  and  relatives 
of  Eutychus,  but  of  all  the  other  converts ;  for,  be 
assured,  if  it  had  been  known  that  a  violent  death  had 
taken  place  in  this  meeting  of  "  the  Christian  sect,"  it 
would  have  been  too  good  an  opportunity  for  the 
enemies  of  the  Cross  to  call  in  the  authorities  of  the 
place  to  put  a  stop  to  all  such  assemblages  in  future. 
But  the  sorrow  of  the  disciples  was  turned  into  joy.  It 
was  a  new  testimony  that  God  was  with  His  servant 
of  a  truth.  They  returned  to  their  chamber ;  and  after 
the  excitement  was  allayed,  they  partook  together,  as 
was  often  the  case  with  the  early  Christians  before 
they  parted,  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  Eucharist,  as  it 
was  called, — a  word  which  means  "joy,"  or  "thanks- 

T 


290  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

giving  ; " — and  their  hearts  at  present  were  doubtless 
full  of  gratitude  and  thankfulness  for  the  miraculous 
restoration  of  this  life.  All  the  scene  in  that  Troas 
chamber  beautifully  accords  with  the  description  given 
us  of  the  Sabbath  meetings  of  the  early  Christians,  in 
a  letter  written  by  the  younger  Pliny  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan,  from  a  place  not  far  from  Troas,  a  century 
later.  He  says — "  The  Christians  were  wont  to  meet 
together  on  a  stated  day,  before  it  was  light,  to  sing 
among  themselves  alternately  a  hymn  to  Christ  and 
God,  and  bind  themselves  by  an  oath  not  to  be  guilty 
of  the  commission  of  any  wickedness  ;  .  .  .  .  and  when 
these  things  were  ended,  it  was  their  custom  to  sepa- 
rate, and  then  to  come  together  again  to  a  meal,  which 
they  ate  in  common  without  any  disorder."  *  The 
other  friends  and  companions  of  the  Apostle  early  in 
the  morning  went  on  board  their  vessel,  sailing  round 
by  Cape  Lectum  to  Assos.  Paul,  however,  waited  be- 
hind them,  remaining  as  long  as  he  could  with  his 
converts,  imparting  to  them  instruction  and  comfort. 
He  then  set  out  alone  on  the  Roman  road,  which 
skirted  the  base  of  Mount  Ida  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  sea-shore  on  the  other,  on  his  way  to  Assos. t  It 
forms  a  striking  and  pleasing  incident  in  the  history  of 
the  Great  Apostle.  We  have  him  generally  brought 
before  us  amid  the  bustle  of  cities,  or  reasoning  and 
disputing  in   schools   and   synagogues;    but  here  we 

*  See  Pliny's  Letters,  where  a  remarkable  account  is  given  of  the  rapid 
spread  of  Christianity  in  Asia  Minor. 

f  If  what  we  have  elsewhere  supposed  about  the  Apostle's  eyesight  be 
correct,  we  have  here  at  least  one  instance  in  which  he  seems  to  have 
been  so  far  recovered  as  to  allow  of  his  travelling  alone.  We  have  no 
grounds,  however,  for  supposing  that  the  disorder  in  his  eyes  made  him  at 
all  times  so  helpless  as  to  be  unable  to  take  such  a  journey  as  the  present 
without  the  guidance  of  others. 


THE  FAITHFUL  PASTOR.  291 

have  a  glimpse    of  "Paul  in  solitude."      The   scene 
recalls  the  lines  of  a  favourite  poet — 

'.'  There  was  a  dell, 
Whose  woven  shades  shut  out  the  eye  of  day, 
"While,  towering  near,  the  rugged  mountains  made 
Dark  back-ground  'gainst  the  sky. 

Thither  I  went, 
And  bade  my  spirit  taste  that  lonely  fount, 
For  which  it  long  had  thirsted  'mid  the  strife 
And  fever  of  the  world." 

We  see  a  lone  figure  walking  slowly  along  amid  the 
oak-copse  of  Ida.*  It  is  an  early  day  in  spring  ;  the 
groves  are  filled  with  singing-birds ;  the  trees  are 
feathered  with  green  leaves  ;  the  ocean  is  murmuring 
at  his  right  hand;  the  rocky  heights  of  the  sacred 
mountain  rise  on  his  left,  glittering  with  a  hundred 
jojous  streams.  May  we  not  imagine  him,  as  the  sun 
had  just  risen,  pausing  at  times  at  some  opening  by 
the  pebbly  beach,  and  gazing  across  that  great  and 
wide  sea,  whose  waters  were  washing  ten  thousand  un- 
seen and  unknown  shores, — perhaps  thinking  of  it  as 
aii  emblem  of  that  glorious  Gospel  which,  under  the 
rising  of  a  "  Better  Sun,"  was  yet  to  send  its  ripples 
of  love  and  peace  on  every  spot  where  the  trace  of 
human  footstep  could  be  found  1  He  walked  on,  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty  miles.  It  was  a  season  of  quiet  com- 
munion with  his  God  in  the  temple  of  nature,  which, 
we  may  believe,  he  would  often  recall  with  pleasure. 
These  shady  woods,  on  that  spring  afternoon,  doubtless 
listened  to  earnest  prayers,  which  the  last  eighteen 
hundred  years  have  been  answering. 

*  See  the  picture  at  the  beginning  of  the  Chapter.    See  also  Fellow's 
Asia  Minor,  and  the  description  by  Howson,  p.  214. 


CHAPTEE  XTII. 


%\t  Sta-f  flpge. 


"  The  warring  winds  have  died  away, 
And  clouds,  beneath  the  glancing  ray, 
Melt  off,  and  leave  the  lands  and  sea 
Sleeping  in  bright  tranquillity. 

Instead  of  one  unchanging  breeze, 
There  blow  a  thousand  gentle  airs, 
And  each  a  different  perfume  bears — 
As  if  the  loveliest  plants  and  trees 
Had  vassal  breezes  of  their  own 
To  watch  and  wait  on  them  alone, 
And  waft  no  other  breath  than  theirs." 

"Food  and  raiment  was  his  bill  of  fare;  and  more  than  this  he 
never  cared  for, — accounting,  that  the  less  he  was  clogged  with  these 
things,  the  lighter  he  should  march  to  heaven — especially  travelling 
through  a  world  overrun  with  troubles  and  persecutions." — Cave's 
Life  of  St  PawZ,  1676. 


\g?0  B  may  imagine  our  Great  Apostle  reaching 
1  #&  now  the  old  arched  gate  at  the  northern 
entrance  of  Assos,  and  hastening  to  the  harbour  to  see 
if  the  ship,  which  had  his  companions  on  board,  had 
arrived.  He  would  have  to  descend  through  abrupt 
and  steep  streets  before  reaching  the  sea-shore ;  so  pre- 
cipitous, indeed,  was  the  way  from  the  town  to  the 
port,  that  it  was  a  common  proverb — "  Go  to  Assos 
and  break  your  neck."*  Probably  he  may  have  stood 
for  a  while  on  the  shore  watching  the  vessel  gradually 
approaching.  If  it  had  already  reached,  no  time  was 
to  be  lost  in  getting  on  board.  Probably,  towards  the 
evening  of  Monday,  he  once  more  found  himself  and 
his  companions  surrounded  with  the  voices  of  Grecian 
sailors,  spreading  their  sails  to  the  breeze. 

We  may  imagine  the  beauty  of  the  scene  as  they 

*  See  Lcwiu. 


"294:  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

retired  from  the  harbour  of  Assos, — its  own  long  line 
of  buildings ;  its  striking  citadel,  perched  on  a  rock ; 
and,  higher  still,  melted  among  the  tints  of  the  even- 
ing sky,  was  beautiful  Ida,  with  her  crags,  and  groves, 
and  waterfalls.  For  some  time  the  course  of  the  ves- 
sel was  not  in  the  open  sea;  their  voyage  lay  among 
creeks  and  islands  where  the  navigation  was  difficult, 
and  where  safety  required  that  they  should  cast  anchor 
for  the  night.  Modern  travellers  unite  in  describing 
the  extreme  beauty  of  the  scenery  through  which,  for 
several  successive  days,  St  Paul  must  have  passed. 
The  first  place  at  which  they  paused  was  Mitylene, 
the  chief  city  of  the  beautiful  island  of  Lesbos,  the 
largest  in  the  iEgean  Sea.  The  town  was  built  on 
a  narrow  neck  of  land,  with  a  port  on  the  east  and 
west  side  of  it,  and  still  remains,  under  the  modern 
name  of  Castro.  Here  they  waited  over  night,  as 
there  was  at  present  no  moonlight,  and  the  intricate 
passage  between  the  island  and  the  mainland  rendered 
it  only  safe  to  venture  by  day. 

The  next  morning  (Tuesday)  they  directed  their 
course  to  Chios,  where  the  straits  between  the  island 
and  the  coast  become  narrower  still.  On  the  left, 
lofty  precipices  towered  hi  terror  over  their  heads — to 
the  right,  the  lovely  gardens  of  the  island  were  bright 
with  blossom. 

Passing  through  similar  scenery  as  they  skirted  the 
eastern  shores  of  Samos,  they  reached  Trogyllium, 
where  they  again  cast  anchor.  On  approaching  the 
latter,  Paul  could  not  fail  to  cast  an  affectionate 
and  longing  look  towards  a  spot  much  endeared  to 
him,  and  which  could  not  have  been  above  a  few  miles 
distant.     It  was  Ephesus,  where,  a  brief  year  before, 


THE  SEA-VOYAGE.  295 

he  had  witnessed  the  terrors  of  a  fanatical  mob,  and 
yet  experienced  the  faithfulness  of  Christian  friendship. 
His  imminent  danger  had  compelled  him  to  hnrry  away 
in  haste,  without  a  word  of  benediction  or  farewell,  and 
he  could  willingly  now  have  landed,  and  gone  direct  to 
its  gates  to  "  salute"  his  attached  friends  there.  Doubt- 
less he  could  discern  its  site,  at  least,  from  the  prow  of 
his  vessel;  but  it  was  either  impossible  for  him  to  di- 
vert the  ship  from  its  course,  or,  what  is  equally  pro- 
bable, he  was  unwilling  to  allow  anything  to  interfere 
with  his  purpose  of  being  in  time  for  the  feast  of  Pen- 
tecost at  Jerusalem.  He  could  not,  however,  pass  this 
much-loved  place,  where  so  many  brethren  and  sisters 
of  the  Lord  were,  without  trying  to  hold  some  inter- 
course with  them.  He  knew  that  his  ship  would  be 
detained  for  a  day  or  two  at  the  port-town  of  Miletus. 
Could  he  not  send  a  messenger  to  Ephesus  (not  more 
than  thirty  miles)  to  tell  the  presbyters  of  the  church 
to  come  and  see  him  ?  He  would  hear  from  their  lips 
about  his  dear  converts,  and  both  he  and  they  would 
have  the  privilege,  at  all  events,  of  uniting  in  prayer, 
and  getting  a  mutual  blessing.  He  saw,  moreover, 
that  dangers  and  trials,  more  especially  from  the  wiles 
of  the  Judaising  Christians,  were  waiting  them ;  and  he 
was  anxious  to  take  the  only  opportunity  he  was  likely 
ever  to  have  on  earth  of  uplifting  his  warning  voice. 
He  lived  to  see  how  needful  the  warning  was;  for, 
among  the  very  last  words  he  dictated,  probably  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  he  tells  us,  what  was  not  the 
least  of  his  closing  trials, — "This  thou  knowest,  that 
all  they  which  are  in  Asia  be  turned  away  from  me;  of 
whom  are  Phygellus  and  Hermogenes."  * 

*  2  Tim.  i.  15. 


29(5  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Meanwhile,  however,  we  may  imagine  the  joy  of  the 
Christians  at  Ephesus  when  they  were  told — "  Our  be- 
loved Paul  is  at  Miletus,  and  is  waiting  for  our  com- 
ing!" We  may  imagine  their  journey — their  meet- 
ing !  It  is  one  of  the  most  touching  scenes  in  all  the 
Apostle's  life,  or  indeed  throughout  the  Bible  itself. 
They  are  gathered  (probably  from  the  time  that  had 
elapsed  since  leaving  Troas)  on  the  Sabbath  day.  It 
is  in  no  house  —  no  church  ;  their  place  of  assem- 
bling is  on  the  solitary  beach,  within  sound  of  the  rip- 
pling sea.  It  was  a  little  prayer-meeting  like  the  one 
by  the  river-side  at  Philippi,  beneath  the  canopy  of 
nature;  but  never,  we  believe,  did  sermon  tell  with 
more  touching  power,  or  were  hearts  united  in  more 
fervent  supplication.  The  sermon  is  still  left  to  us.  * 
It  is  short ;  but  it  is  one  of  those  beautiful  passages  of 
Scripture  which  no  one,  to  this  day,  can  read  without 
being  touched  by  its  beauty  and  tenderness.  They 
kneeled  down  at  its  close  on  the  shore — tears  fell  fast 
— old  and  young  flung  their  arms  around  Paul's  neck, 
embracing  and  kissing  him  —  "  sorrowing  most  of  all 
for  the  words  which  he  spake  to  them,  that  they  would 
see  his  face  no  more ;  and  they  accompanied  him  to 
the  ship."  There  is  no  time  for  delay;  the  Great 
Apostle,  with  a  bursting  heart,  is  once  more  on  the 
blue  deep — his  eye  wistfully  following  his  downcast 
friends,  till  distance  has  separated  them  for  ever. 

Before  leaving  the  town  of  Miletus,  we  may  just 
remark,  that,  when  Paul  knelt  by  its  sea-shore,  he 
must  have  gazed,  close  by,  on  a  busy  city — a  forest  of 
masts  crowding  its  four  ports.  Already  was  it  begin- 
ning to  interfere  with  the  trade  of  Ephesus.     If  he 

*  Acts  xx.  18-36. 


THE  SEA- VOYAGE.  21)7 

looked  towards  the  sea,  a  cluster  of  islands  would  be 
right  in  view,  well-known  haunts  of  smugglers  and 
pirates.  Owing  to  the  quantity  of  soil  carried  down 
by  the  stream  of  the  Meander,  these  islands  are  now 
no  longer  washed  by  the  ocean,  but  are  little  eleva- 
tions rising  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  plain ;  and  Miletus 
itself  has  shared  in  the  altered  face  of  nature.* 

Chandler  visited  it,  among  other  places,  in  his  tour 
in  Asia  Minor,  and  was  struck  with  its  desolation, 
though  still  retaining,  in  its  name  (Palat,  or  Palatia, 
the  Palaces),  the  remembrance  of  its  ancient  greatness. 
"  Miletus,"  he  says,  "  was  once  exceedingly  powerful 
and  illustrious.  Its  early  navigators  extended  its  com- 
merce to  remote  regions;  the  whole  Euxine  Sea,  the 
Propontis,  Egypt,  and  other  countries,  were  frequented 
by  its  ships  and  settled  by  its  colonies It  after- 
wards fell  so  low  as  to  furnish  a  proverbial  saying — 
1  The  Milesians  were  once  great.'  ....  The  whole  site 
of  the  town,  to  a  great  extent,  is  spread  with  rubbish 
and  overrun  with  thickets.  The  vestiges  of  the  hea- 
then city  are  pieces  of  wall,  broken  arches,  and  a  few 
scattered  pedestals  and  inscriptions,  a  square  marble 
urn,  and  many  wells."  t 

The  Greek  sailors  and  their  holy  voyagers  pursue 
their  course  towards  the  island  of  Cos,  which  has  been 
called  "  the  garden  of  the  iEgean,"  celebrated  for  wine 
and  silkworms.  Among  the  groups  of  smaller  islands 
which  they  passed,  they  may  have  got  a  glimpse  of  one 
we  have  already  alluded  to,  unknown  then  in  sacred 
story — the  island  of  Patmos,  from  whose  lonely  rock 
there  sounded  forth  the  last  messages  of  Deity  to  our 
world. 

*  Lewin,  in  loc.  f  Chandler,  pp.  148,  149. 


XV 6  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  TAUL. 

Rhodes  was  the  next  place  to  which  they  sailed. 
Doubling  its  northern  promontory,  they  carne  in  sight 
of  the  beautiful  town  and  harbour,  rising  in  the  midst 
of  gardens  and  hills.  It  was  celebrated  for  its  roses, 
which  gave  the  name  to  the  island — its  Temple  of  the 
Sun,  and  great  Colossus.  This  last  was  said  to  stand 
across  the  harbour,  and  was  so  high  that  vessels  passed 
under  its  legs.  Every  finger  of  the  image  was  as  big 
as  a  man.  It  was  reckoned  the  greatest  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world  while  it  stood;  but,  in  the  time 
of  Paul,  it  was  a  huge  ruin — nothing  remaining  but  the 
limbs;  the  vast  monument  of  human  labour,  105  feet 
high,  which  attracted  from  afar  the  eye  of  the  mariner, 
had  been  overthrown  by  an  earthquake.  As  the  Apostle 
passed  into  the  port,  the  brazen  monster  was  lying 
prone  on  the  beach,  where  it  continued  for  ages,  until 
the  Saracens  took  possession  of  the  island,  when  the 
brass  of  the  Colossus  was  sold  to  a  Jew,  who  carried  it 
away  on  the  backs  of  900  camels.* 

It  is  not  said  whether  the  ship  landed  at  Rhodes. 
Most  probably  it  only  cast  anchor  for  the  night,  and, 
at  early  dawn,  proceeded  along  the  Lycian  coast,  with 
a  "knot  of  high  and  rugged  mountains  in  vie\v,"t 
which  the  writer  we  quote  calls  Mount  Cragus,  the 
haunt  of  the  fabled  Chimsera.  A  little  way  east  of 
this,  they  come  in  sight  of  Patara,  the  port  of  the  river 
Xanthus,  ten  miles  from  the  city  of  the  same  name. 
The  vessel  in  which  they  were  now  sailing  seems  not 
to  have  been  bound  for  Syria ;  but,  fortunately,  on 
reaching  Patara,  they  found  one  just  about  to  start  for 
Tyre.  "Without  loss  of  time,  the  Apostle  seized  the 
favourable  opportunity,  and  once  more,  under  a  bright 

*  Codrnnus.  t  Beaufort's  Kara  ma  uia. 


THE  SEA- VOYAGE.  299 

full-moon  and  a  favouring  breeze,  we  may  imagine  him 
out  on  the  broad  ocean — no  longer  now  any  creeks  or 
currents  to  render  anchorage  for  the  night  necessary. 

It  is  worse  than  vain  and  unprofitable,  in  Bible  nar- 
rative, to  imagine  things  that  are  not  described  ;  but 
it  may  be  pardonable  for  us  to  picture,  in  the  present 
voyage,  the  weather-beaten  Apostle  standing  on  the 
deck  of  his  vessel,  "  in  the  great  and  wide  sea," — the 
clear  moonbeams  playing  on  its  white  sails,  or  on  the 
rippling  foam  of  its  wake.  Every  traveller  who  has 
been  on  the  Mediterranean  by  moonlight,  has  spoken 
with  rapture  of  the  scene.  Paul  had  left  his  warm 
cloak  behind  him  at  Troas;  and  we  shall  afterwards 
find  him  wishing  much  that  he  had  it  to  protect  his 
shivering  frame  in  the  damps  of  a  Roman  dungeon. 
But  he  can  dispense  with  it  now,  in  a  summer  night 
in  these  genial  climes,  and  under  such  a  canopy. 
Nature,  we  know,  in  her  intense  repose,  has  a  wonder- 
ful power  on  the  human  spirit.  Those  glittering  stars 
above  his  head,  looking  down  from  their  quiet  heaven 
like  so  many  ministering  angels,  may  have  whispered 
peace  to  his  lonely  spirit.  If  the  rude  heathen  sailors 
around  were  beguiling  the  hours  by  their  wonted 
songs,  may  not  the  Apostle-voyager  and  his  companions 
have  had  also  their  "  songs  in  the  night  1 "  One  of 
these,  we  know,  was  often  on  the  lips  of  pilgrims  like 
himself  going  up  to  the  Passover; — may  it  not  now 
have  soothed  his  spirit  in  that  moonlit  sea,  and  led 
him  to  cast  his  burden  on  a  faithful  God  1  "  The 
Lord  is  thy  keeper  ;  the  Lord  is  thy  shade  upon  thy 
right  hand.  The  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by  day,  nor 
the  moon  by  night.  The  Lord  shall  preserve  thee 
from  all  evil ;  he  shall  preserve  thy  soul.      The  Lord 


300  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

shall  preserve  thy  going  out,  and  thy  coming  in,  from 
this  time  forth,  and  even  for  evermore."  *  Perhaps  you 
may  remember  the  first  time  he  sailed  along  this  same 
sea — it  was  while,  a  brave-hearted  boy,  he  stood  on 
the  deck  of  some  Phoenician  trader,  with  his  father  or 
some  other  friend  at  his  side,  pointing  out,  one  by  one, 
the  objects  of  interest  in  the  land  of  promise.  How 
different  this  voyage !  That  father  had,  for  aught  we 
know,  long  ere  now  sunk  into  his  grave,  reposing  with 
his  dead  in  the  Jewish  sepulchre  in  Tarsus  ; — perhaps 
gone  down  to  the  tomb  in  sadness  because  the  child 
of  high  promise  had  become  an  apostate  and  a  Naza- 
rene !  It  may  be  so  ;  but  Paul  felt  that  better  than 
father  or  friend  was  with  him.  If  his  "father  and 
mother  had  forsaken  him,"  the  Lord  had  "  taken  him 
up."  A  mother's  smile  may  possibly  have  never  fal- 
len upon  her  boy ;  but  amid  the  stillness  of  that  mid- 
night hour,  a  voice  would  break  upon  the  ear  of  the 
orphaned  Apostle,  as  he  drew  nigh,  with  a  trembling 
heart,  to  the  city  of  God.  "  As  one  whom  his  mother 
comforteth,  so  will  i"  comfort  you,  and  ye  shall  be  com- 
forted in  Jerusalem!"  A  few  days,  as  we  shall  see, 
fulfilled  the  promise. 
3>  The  distance  from  Patara  to  Tyre  was  a  considerable 
one, — about  four  hundred  miles  ;  but  with  a  favouring 
^i1*  v\  north-west  wind, (the  voyage  might  easily  be  made  in 

forty-eight  hours.tj  The  first  land  he  would  descry 
would  be  the  round-topped  mountain  of  Cyprus,  with 
its  summit  of  snow;  and,  not  long  after,  he  would 
catch  his  first  glimpse,  in  the  hazy  distance,  of  the 
peaks  of  Lebanon. 

They  have  now  reached  Tyre,  the  once  "great  city," 

*  Psalm  cxxi  5-8.  t  Howson,  vol.  i.  p.  233. 


THE  SEx\.- VOYAGE.  301 

all  that  remains  of  which,  at  the  present  day,  is  a 
few  rocks  and  miserable  huts,  on  which  the  fishermen 
spread  their  nets.  When  Paul  visited  it,  it  was  far 
past  the  height  of  its  glory,  though  still  large.  It  was 
originally  situated  on  the  mainland,  but  the  conquer- 
ing army  of  Nebuchadnezzar  drove  the  Tyrians  to  an 
island  close  by.  Here  they  fortified  themselves,  and 
built  a  new  city,  jutting  into  the  sea  a  mile  long. 
Alexander  the  Great  was  only  able  to  take  it  by  con- 
necting, at  great  labour,  the  mainland  with  the  island- 
town.  Its  port,  into  which  the  Apostle  entered,  was 
situated  on  the  north  of  the  peninsula. 

Since  the  Phoenician  territory,  between  the  sea  and 
the  mountain  range  of  Lebanon,  was  small,  Tyre  was 
still  indebted  to  neighbouring  countries  for  various 
commodities  which  she  received  in  exchange  for  her 
manufactures;  and  it  has  been  conjectured,  with  great 
probability,  that  this  vessel  from  Patara,  in  which 
Paul  now  was,  may  have  been  laden  with  grain  or 
wine  from  the  rich  provinces  of  Asia  Minor  or  the 
islands  of  the  iEgean.*  She  was  bound  for  Ptolemais, 
but,  before  proceeding  thither,  had  to  unlade  in  the 
Tyrian  harbour.  This  occupied  several  days;  and  as 
the  Apostle  found  he  was  in  ample  time  for  the  Jeru- 
salem festival,  he  willingly  spent  the  leisure  thus 
afforded  him  with  the  "  brethren  at  Tyre."  A  church 
seems  to  have  already  existed  here,  and  among  its 
members  at  present  were  some  "prophets,"  to  whom 
had  been  imparted  a  knowledge  of  coming  events. 
These  used  their  influence  with  Paul  to  try  and  pre- 
vent him  from  going  to  Jerusalem,  as  they  had  a  fore- 
sight given  them  of  his  coming  trials.      Their  efforts, 

*  See  Howson,  vol.  i.  p.  235. 


302  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

however,  were  vain.  I  need  not  say  if  there  had 
been  any  express  divine  command  in  the  matter,  Paul 
was  not  one  who  would  be  found  "to  fight  against 
God,"  But  it  was  only  a  prophetic  warning  on  the 
part  of  these  Christians,  "  that  if  he  valued  his  own 
liberty  and  safety,  he  ought  not  to  venture,  since  it 
would  certainly  expose  him  to  very  great  hazard."  * 
He  had,  however,  like  his  Lord  before  him,  "  set  his 
face  steadfastly  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem,"  and  no  danger 
would  divert  him  from  what  he  considered  his  path  of 
duty,  although  he  had  frankly  owned  to  the  elders  of 
Ephesus  that  his  spirit  was  clouded  with  the  many 
intimations  he  had  received  of  coming  "  bonds  and  im- 
prisonment." After  spending  seven  days  at  Tyre, 
including  a  Sabbath,  the  master  of  the  vessel  availed 
himself  of  the  first  fair  wind  to  proceed  to  Ptolemais. 
Paul  was  followed  to  the  seaside,  as  at  Miletus,  by  many 
affectionate  friends,  their  wives  and  children  mingling 
in  the  sorrowing  group  who  had  come  to  bid  him  fare- 
well. After  uniting  in  prayer  on  the  shore,  the  can- 
vas is  again  spread  to  the  breeze,  and  in  a  few  hours 
they  are  sailing  up  the  spacious  bay,  at  the  bend  of 
which  is  situated  the  modern  Acre,  the  ancient  Ptole- 
mais. We  need  not  stop  to  describe  this  illustrious 
town.  It  was  famous  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades, 
when  England's  lion-hearted  king  fought  under  its 
walls.  It  defied  the  power  of  Napoleon.  In  more 
recent  times,  it  was  less  successful  in  withstanding  the 
might  of  our  own  gallant  fleet.  Mount  Carmel  casts 
its  shadow  on  the  south  part  of  the  bay,  where  the 
principal  anchorage  was,  and  here,  we  may  conclude, 
St  Paul  ended  his  present  sea-voyage.      At  Ptolemais, 

*  Doddridge. 


THE  SEA-VOYAGE.  303 

he  only  remained  a  single  day,  visiting  the  disciples 
resident  there,  and  then  took  the  road  which  skirts 
the  base  of  Mount  Carmel  to  Cesarea, — a  distance 
of  thirty-five  miles.  There  were  in  this  latter  city 
many  endeared  Christian  disciples, — one  especially, 
under  whose  roof  he  had  taken  "sweet  counsel"  before 
now.  Philip  the  Evangelist  and  his  four  daughters 
dwelt  in  the  town  of  Herod.  These  four  females  seem 
to  have  been  devoted  servants  of  Jesus,  on  whom  also 
the  gift  of  prophecy  had  descended,  as  in  the  case  of 
Deborah  and  Miriam  in  Old  Testament  times,  and 
also  in  accordance  with  the  prediction  of  Joel.  Here 
the  same  mournful  intimations  met  the  Apostle,  of 
approaching  trials  and  persecution  if  he  ventured  to 
go  to  Jerusalem.  Agabus,  a  convert  and  a  prophet, 
the  same  who  had  years  before  predicted  the  famine 
in  Judea,  hearing  of  Paul's  arrival,  had  come  down  all 
the  way  from  the  Holy  City  to  lift  his  voice  of  pro- 
phetical warning.  His  former  prediction  relative  to  the 
dearth  had  been  so  accurately  fulfilled,  that  the  disciples 
would  naturally  listen  with  anxiety  to  what  he  would 
say  regarding  the  future  destiny  of  their  revered 
father.  The  prophets,  in  olden  time,  had  a  peculiar 
way  of  foretelling  coming  events  by  acting  these  in 
expressive  signs  or  symbols  before  the  eye.  Thus  Jere- 
miah foretold  the  coming  Jewish  captivity  by  burying 
his  girdle  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  ;  and  Isaiah 
walked  naked  and  barefoot  to  proclaim  the  humbling 
bondage  which  awaited  Egypt  and  Ethiopia  by  the 
King  of  Assyria.  Agabus  used  the  same  striking 
method  now  of  making  known  his  prediction.  He 
took  off  Paul's  girdle,  binding  his  own  hands  and  feet 
with  it,  and  saying,  "  Thus  saith  the  Holy  Ghost,  So 


304  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

shall  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  bind  the  man  to  whom 
this  girdle  belongs,  and  they  shall  deliver  him  into  the 
hands  of  the  Gentiles."  Luke,  Aristarchus,  Tro- 
phimus,  and  his  interested  friends  at  Cesarea,  im- 
plored the  Great  Apostle  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  warn- 
ing and  abandon  his  purpose  of  proceeding  to  Jeru- 
salem. But  Paul's  lofty  spirit  would  allow  no  fears  or 
threats  to  terrify  him ;  he  was  bold  in  his  Master's 
work.  It  pained  him  much  to  resist  the  advice  of 
affectionate  brethren,  but  he  had  been  forewarned  by  a 
voice  of  love  what  "  great  things  he  must  suffer  for  His 
sake."  Is  he  to  shrink  from  the  cross  1  No  !  he  acts 
up  to  his  own  advice  to  a  younger  believer — "  Endure 
hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ."  He  had 
counted  the  cost,  and  found  it  worthy  of  martyrdom. 
"  What  mean  ye  to  weep  and  to  break  mine  heart  % 
for  I  am  ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at 
Jerusalem  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  *  When 
they  saw  they  could  not  move  him  from  his  purpose, 
they  submitted  ;  and  with  hearts  filled  with  gloom  at 
all  these  manifold  warnings,  said,  "  The  will  of  the  Lord 
be  done."  There  was  much,  indeed,  that  might  well 
have  filled  the  bold  soul  of  our  Apostle  with  dread ;  all 
throughout  this  journey  we  cannot  fail  to  mark  a  dejec- 
tion that  was  not  usual  to  him.  The  Holy  Ghost  had 
witnessed  in  every  city  that  bonds  and  afflictions  were 
in  store  for  him.  He  knew  he  could  expect  little  jus- 
tice at  the  hands  of  the  worthless  Governor  of  Judea, 
the  abandoned  Felix  ;  and  there  were  low  assassins  at 
this  time  in  Jerusalem,  who  would  be  ready,  for  the 
basest  bribe,  to  sacrifice  the  noblest  life  in  the  world.t 

*  Acts  xxi.  13.  t  Neander. 


THE  SEA-VOYAGE.  305 

But  the  baggage  is  put  in  order ;  his  resolution  is 
taken. 

The  distance  to  Jerusalem  was  seventy-five  miles, — 
a  three  days'  journey.  As  many  of  his  personal  friends, 
and  Christians  from  Cesarea,  were  going  up  to  the  Pen- 
tecost feast,  they  must  have  formed  together  a  goodly 
company  or  caravan. 

We  close  this  chapter  by  leaving  the  noble-minded 
servant  of  God  in  the  house  of  Mnason,  an  old  disciple 
of  Cyprus,  looking  out  on  the  same  streets  and  scenes 
with  which  his  eye  had  been  formerly  familiar,  when, 
as  the  boy  of  Tarsus,  he  had  day  by  day  gone  to  sit  at 
the  feet  of  the  learned  Gamaliel. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


fiml  in  fmtsatat. 

"Jerusalem!  Jerusalem! 
Enthroned  once  on  high, 
Thou  favour'd  home  of  God  on  earth — 
Thou  heaven  below  the  sky  ! 

Till  to  the  Saviour  of  mankind 

Thou  humbly  bow  the  knee, 
Jerusalem !  Jerusalem ! 

Our  tears  shall  flow  for  thee." 

"  And  now,  behold,  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  not 
knowing  the  things  that  shall  befall  me  there :  save  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  witnesseth  in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and  afflictions  abide 
me.  But  none  of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear 
unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  minis- 
try which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  testify  the  Gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God."— Acts  xx.  22-24. 


t*T  was  now  the  lovely  month  of 
May.  The  hills  and  valleys  of  old 
Palestine  were  clothed  in  their 
summer  beauty.  The  husband- 
man saw  the  labours  of  early 
spring  rewarded  with  fields  of 
plenty.  It  was  the  time  of  year 
when  good  King  David's  pastoral 
song  must  have  been  on  many 
lips— "Thou  crownest  the  year  with  Thy  goodness; 
and  Thy  paths  drop  fatness.  .  .  .  The  pastures  are 
clothed  with  flocks ;  the  valleys  also  are  covered  over 
with  corn;  they  shout  for  joy,  they  also  sing."* 
Thousands  upon  thousands  from  all  parts  of  Judea, 
and  Israelites  from  distant  lands,  were  assembling  at 
the  feast  of  Pentecost,  to  offer  to  Jehovah  thanksgiving 
for  the  bounties  of  harvest.    Already,  when  the  Apostle 

*  Psalm  lxv.  11, 13. 


308  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

arrived  in  Jerusalem,  multitudes  of  stranger-Jews  were 
crowding  the  streets  ;  and  the  slopes  of  Mount  Olivet, 
and  the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  were  dotted  over  with  the  well-known  goats'- 
hair  tents.  Many  a  young  Hebrew  youth,  doubtless, 
had  come  up,  for  the  first  time,  from  his  distant  home, 
to  see  the  city  of  the  Great  King — his  heart  bounding 
with  joy.  Many,  too,  unknown  to  themselves,  had 
made  their  last  pilgrimage  to  the  place  of  ordinances. 
Among  the  latter,  was  the  sojourner  in  the  house  of 
old  Mnason,  who  was  now,  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  spending  his  last  Pentecost  in  the  earthly 
Zion. 

Let  us  think  of  him,  then,  once  more  in  the  "  city  of 
God,"  within  sight  of  the  splendid  temple  and  the 
green  Mount  of  Olives.  Many  changes  had  taken 
place  since  his  last  visit.  Four  years  before,  his  old 
teacher,  Gamaliel,  had  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth, 
and  been  laid  in  the  sepulchre  of  his  fathers.  His  two 
sons  still  survived,  Simon  and  Jesus.  With  them  Paul 
doubtless  had  been  acquainted  in  former  years.  They 
had  probably  been  his  companions  during  his  school- 
days. Their  path  in  life,  however,  from  that  time 
became  very  different.  ,  The  sons  of  the  Rabbi  were 
afterwards  exalted  respectively  to  the  chair  of  the  San- 
hedrim and  the  office  of  high  priest,  while  their  old 
Cilician  friend  and  playmate  arrives  in  their  city  a  care- 
worn traveller,  with  no  thought  but  that  of  bonds  and 
imprisonment.  Theophilus  (the  same  to  whom  "  Saul 
the  persecutor"  had  applied  for  letters  to  seize  the 
Damascus  Christians)  was  still  alive.  Felix  was  resid- 
ing in  his  gorgeous  palace  at  Cesarea;  and  the  Roman 
officer  in  command  at  Jerusalem,  as  we  shall  presently 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  309 

see,  was  Claudius  Lysias.  It  was  often  the  case  then, 
as  it  is  now  when  multitudes  are  gathered  together  in 
one  place,  that  breaches  of  the  peace  were  committed. 
Any  such  riots  were  best  suppressed  by  the  presence  of 
military;  and  for  this  purpose,  Claudius,  during  the 
feast  of  Pentecost,  had,  like  his  predecessors,  soldiers 
ready  armed  to  march,  in  case  of  disturbance,  from 
the  fort  of  Antonia. 

The  Apostle  arrived  (for  even  the  date  may  with 
probability  be  given)  on  the  8th  day  of  May,  a.d.  56. 
He  was  kindly  received,  and  seems  to  have  spent  the 
evening  in  company  with  the  disciples.  The  next  day 
was  an  anxious  one  to  him ;  he  was  then  to  meet  all 
the  presbyters,  in  order  to  deliver  the  contributions  he 
had  brought  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  Hebrews.  He 
well  knew  that  there  were  among  them  many  "  Jucla- 
isers,"  who  regarded  him  with  bitter  dislike,  as  one 
who  was  doing  all  he  could  to  destroy  their  national 
glory,  and  abolish  their  legal  rites  and  ceremonies. 
One  great  purpose  for  which  he  came  at  present  to 
Jerusalem  was,  to  try  and  soothe  their  bitterness,  and 
to  convince  them  that  he  was  but  a  single-minded  dis- 
ciple, who  had  no  interest  at  heart  but  that  of  his  dear 
Lord.  However  much,  therefore,  he  dreaded  the  com- 
ing storm,  he  was  resolved  boldly,  in  the  strength  of 
his  God,  to  meet  it. 

The  venerable  Apostle  James  at  present  presided 
over  the  assembly  of  presbyters.  These  met  the  next 
day,  in  order  to  receive  Paul  and  the  other  brethren 
from  a  distance.  They  greeted  one  another  with  "  the 
kiss  of  charity,"  common  in  these  times  as  a  symbol  of 
brotherly  affection.  The  strangers  first  laid  down  the 
money  which  had  been  collected  in  distant  countries 


310  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

for  the  poor  saints,  and  then  Paul  proceeded  to  address 
the  meeting.  He  rehearsed  all  that  had  been  done  by 
himself  and  his  companions,  during  the  last  four  years, 
among  the  Gentiles.  He  would  probably  enlarge  on 
the  many  promising  churches  he  had  founded — the 
perilous  and  trying  scenes,  more  especially  that  at 
Ephesus,  through  which  he  had  passed.  Moreover, 
that  he  was  not  come  now  among  them  to  seek  an  idle 
repose ;  but  that,  though  his  face  was  beginning  to  be 
deeply  furrowed  with  wrinkles,  he  was  still  resolved  to 
"spend  and  be  spent"  in  the  service  of  his  Master. 

"  How  must  his  hearers  have  rejoiced  to  listen  to 
every  detail  of  those  wonderful  achievements,  far  more 
interesting  than  were  ever  told  to  admiring  senates  by 
the  conquerors  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  power  of  Divine 
grace,  which,  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching,  had  over- 
come the  pride  of  the  Areopagite,  and  subdued  the 
rugged  nature  of  the  barbarous  jailer,  with  as  much 
facility  as  it  had  melted  the  heart  of  the  tender  Lydia ! 
Surely  few  eyes  were  dry  in  that  assembly."  * 

His  address,  indeed,  seems  to  have  been  listened  to 
with  intense  interest  by  the  bulk  of  those  present ; 
for  we  are  told,  that  the  first  thing  they  did,  after 
hearing  him  speak,  was  to  glorify  God  for  the  things 
He  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles  by  his  ministry. 

There  were  many  deep  prejudices,  however,  in  the 
minds  of  "thousands  of  Jews  which  believed,"  which 
would  not  be  so  easily  allayed.  Many  of  these,  as  you 
remember  in  a  former  chapter,  could  not  brook  the 
thought  of  a  gospel  proclaimed  to  the  heathen.  They 
imagined  that,  as  Israel  had  all  along  been  the  favoured 
and  peculiar  people  of  God,  Christianity  was  only  in- 

*  Blunt. 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  31 1 

tended  for  them.     This  question  had  been  finally  dis- 
posed of  and  settled  by  the  decree  of  the  Jerusalem 
Council  —  copies   of  which,   you   will  recollect,    were 
carried  by  Paul,  Barnabas,  and  Titus,  to  Antioch,  and 
distributed  through  the  different  cities  in  Asia  Minor. 
Another   equally   strong   feeling,    however,    had   now 
taken   hold  of  their  minds,— viz.,   a  dread  that  the 
Jews,  who  had  been  converted  to  Christianity,  might 
be  induced  or  compelled  to  give  up  the  observance  of 
the  Mosaic  law.     What  were  Paul's  views  on  this  sub- 
ject %     He  distinctly  held  that  the  Jewish  Christians 
might  still,  if  they  chose,  observe  their  ancient  rites ;  but 
these  were  in  no  respect  to  come  in  the  place  of  the 
great  work  of  Christ,  by  which  alone  both  Jew  and 
Gentile  are  "justified  from  all  things,  from  which  they 
could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses."     But  the 
Jewish  believers  had  accused  him  of  going  much  far- 
ther, and  of  absolutely  prohibiting  the  Hebrew  con- 
verts among  the  heathen  from  having  their  children 
circumcised,  and  retaining  any  of  the  institutions  of 
Moses.     "  Thou  seest,  brother,"  said  the  elders  at  this 
conference  we  refer  to,  "how  many  thousands  of  Jews 
there  are  which  believe,  and  they  are  all  zealous  of  the 
law;  and  they  are  informed  of  thee  that  thou  teachest 
all  the  Jews  which  are  among  the  Gentiles  to  forsake 
Moses,  saying  that  they  ought  not  to  circumcise  their 
children,  neither  to  walk  after  their  customs." 

Paul's  friends  knew  well  that  there  would  be  many 
Asiatic  Jews  present  at  the  feast  from  a  far  distance 
whose  feelings  of  national  pride  and  glory  would  be 
roused  by  treading  once  more  the  city  of  their  fathers. 
These  friends  of  the  Apostle  considered  it  desirable  if 
he  could  in  some  way  give  public  proof  that  he  was 


312  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

not  the  enemy  of  the  Hebrew  rites  which  he  had  been 
represented  to  be.  The  following  was  the  device  they 
fell  upon.  There  were  four  Jewish  Christians  among 
themselves  who  had  taken  the  "  Nazarite  vow."  This, 
I  have  already  explained,  consisted  in  not  cutting  or 
shaving  the  hair  or  beard,  nor  taking  wine  for  thirty 
days.  I  told  you  that  at  the  end  of  that  period,  those 
who  thus  vowed  were  expected  to  repair  to  the  temple, 
where  they  had  their  hair  cut  off  and  burnt  on  the 
altar.  If  they  were  poor,  they  generally  got  the  as- 
sistance of  some  wealthy  friend  to  pay  the  necessary 
expense ;  and  nothing  so  raised  a  man  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  Jews  as  this  act  of  charity  towards  a  poor 
brother.  Josephus  tells  us  that  King  Agrippa,  on  re- 
turning to  Jerusalem  after  having  undergone  many 
dangers  and  escapes,  gave  orders  that  the  expense  of 
shaving  several  Nazarites  be  paid  out  of  his  own  pri- 
vate purse.* 

These  four  Nazarites  had  fulfilled  the  "  days  of  sepa- 
ration ;"  but  they  had  not  sufficient  to  pay  the  charge 
of  the  wonted  sacrifices.  The  proposal  of  the  Apostle's 
advisers  was,  that  he  should  go  in  company  with  these 
four  men  to  the  courts  of  the  temple,  and  defray  the 
expense  incurred  according  to  the  law.  Being  poor 
himself,  his  friends  would  likely  furnish  him  with 
money  sufficient  for  the  purpose ;  and  thus,  in  a  way 
most  gratifying  to  Jewish  feeling,  he  would  show  his 
good- will  to  the  Jewish  Church. 

Paul  seems  willingly  to  have  complied  with  the  sug- 
gestion. If  he  had  thought  it  in  any  degree  inconsistent 
with  right  principle,  and  the  duty  he  owed  to  his  Lord, 
we  may  be  very  sure  he  would  never  have  agreed  to  it. 

*  Josephus,  ant.  xix.  6,  1. 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  313 

He  viewed  it,  doubtless,  as  a  mere  outward  compliance 
with  a  custom  unimportant  in  itself,  but  which  would 
tend  to  calm  the  feelings  of  those  whom  he  was  de- 
sirous of  counting  one  with  him  in  Christ  Jesus.  He 
ever  sought,  as  he  tells  us  elsewhere,  to  become  "  all 
things  to  all  men,  if  by  any  means  he  might  gain 
some."  Circumcision  in  itself  was  nothing  to  him, 
neither  was  uncircumcision,  "but  faith,  which  work- 
eth  by  love." 

It  is  only  fair,  however,  to  mention,  that  many  good 
men  have  considered  the  Apostle  was,  in  this  instance, 
guilty  of  an  unwise  compliance ;  and  it  is  striking  to 
observe,  which  we  shall  immediately  do,  that  instead  of 
soothing  his  enemies,  his  visit  to  the  temple  at  this  time 
threatened  him  with  serious  consequences.  "  He  was 
brought,"  says  John  Knox,  "  into  the  most  desperate 
danger  that  he  ever  sustained — God  designing  to  show 
thereby  that  we  must  not  do  evil  that  good  may  come." 
We  may  picture  to  ourselves  the  Great  Apostle,  ac- 
companied with  his  four  friends,  with  their  haggard 
looks  and  unshaven  beards,  ascending  to  the  temple, 
entering  by  the  Corinthian  or  Beautiful  gate  to  the 
place  allotted  to  the  Nazarites  to  undergo  their  seven 
days'  purification.  It  was  customary,  after  each  day's 
purification  had  taken  place,  for  the  Nazarite  to  re- 
main in  the  temple.  Paul  in  this  way  must  have  been 
daily  in  the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  although  he  wisely 
abstained  from  entering  into  religious  discussion  with 
any  of  the  worshippers.  As  I  have  said,  multitudes  of 
Jews  from  all  parts  of  Asia,  (and  among  these  from 
Ephesus,  to  whom  the  Apostle's  face  was  well  known,) 
were  mingling  in  the  crowd  around  him.  They  had 
not  forgotten  his  victory  in  their  synagogue  in  the  city 


314  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

of  Diana,  and  they  thought  that  now  would  be  a  befit- 
ting opportunity  to  have  their  revenge.  They  at  once 
spread  the  intelligence  that  this  false  and  traitor  apos- 
tate was  present,  and  had  ventured  to  take  Trophirnus, 
his  companion,  a  Greek,  within  the  holy  place.  Pro- 
bably they  had  seen  Paul  and  Trophirnus  walking  to- 
gether on  the  streets,  and  had  inferred  that  he  had 
brought  him  also  within  the  sacred  courts.  The  intro- 
duction of  any  Gentile  there,  I  need  not  tell  you,  was 
strictly  forbidden.  Josephus  informs  us  that  tablets 
were  hung  out  in  sight  of  all,  with  words  upon  them 
to  caution  those  who  might  not  be  aware  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  enclosure.*  In  a  moment  he  is  surrounded 
with  an  infuriated  mob  and  frantic  cries.  The  whole 
scene  of  Stephen's  martyrdom  must  have  flashed  across 
him.  They  are  almost  within  sight  of  the  spot.  Could 
a  like  terrible  end  be  now  in  prospect  for  himself? 
They  have  laid  fast  hold  of  him,  and  are  shouting  aloud, 
"  Men  of  Israel,  help  !  this  is  the  man  that  teacheth 
all  men  everywhere  against  the  people  and  the  law  and 
this  place,  "t  We  can  readily  imagine  their  fury.  Soon 
their  madness  turns  into  blows.  They  drag  him  down 
the  steps  from  the  court  of  the  women.  The  Levites 
within,  afraid  that  murder  might  be  committed,  and 
their  sanctuary  thereby  profaned,  closed  the  weighty 
brazen  gates,  and  left  him  to  his  fate.  Fortunately  the 
little  time  that  elapsed  in  taking  him  from  one  court  to 
the  other  saved  his  life.  The  Roman  sentries,  some  of 
whom  were  pacing  the  colonnade  of  the  temple,  and 
others  on  the  towers  of  Antonia,  heard  the  noise  of  the 
tumult,  and  rushed  with  their  arms  to  quell  it.  They 
saw  it  was  no  trifle,   and  therefore  sent  in  haste  to 

*  See  Olsliausen.  t  Acts  xxi.  28. 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  315 

Claudius  Lysias,  the  governor  of  the  castle,  to  acquaint 
him  of  the  uproar.  The  Castle  of  Antonia  was  a  strongly- 
fortified  place  at  the  north-western  side  of  the  temple.* 
It  contained  large  barracks  for  the  Roman  troops,  in 
which  a  thousand  were  generally  stationed.  Its  form 
was  a  vast  square,  described  as  having  "  the  magni- 
ficence of  a  palace,  and  the  conveniences  of  a  city."  A 
wall  300  cubits  high  and  several  fortifications  were 
around  it,  and  a  tower  at  each  corner  to  defend  it.  It 
was  a  sort  of  citadel  of  the  temple.t  One  of  these  lofty 
turrets  overlooked  the  temple  courts,  and  Roman  sen- 
tinels were  always  on  watch  to  give  intimation  of  any 
disturbance  that  might  occur  within  the  sacred  pre- 
cincts. 

Claudius  Lysias  lost  no  time,  after  he  received  the 
message,  in  ordering  out  some  officers  and  troops.  He 
rushed  down  himself  sword  in  hand.  The  sight  of  the 
Roman  legion  overawed  the  furious  mob,  and  for  the 
time  they  "  left  off  beating  Paul."  Their  object,  how- 
ever, was  so  far  gained,  for  Lysias  gave  orders  that  his 
wrists  be  bound  with  two  chains,  these  chains  fastened 
to  a  soldier  on  either  side.  Hurried  along,  with  a 
maddened  crowd  behind  him,  in  the  direction  of  the 
castle,  he  is  taken  to  the  barracks  within  the  fortress. 
While  led  up  the  flight  of  stairs  between  the  two  places, 
so  great  was  the  pressure,  he  was  literally  carried  off 
his  feet,  and  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  throng, 
who  were  crying  out,  "  Away  with  him." 

Lysias,  in  the  confusion,  could  get  no  account  of 
who  his  prisoner  was.     He  imagined  that  he  had  cap- 

*  See  the  tower,  in  the  picture  of  Jerusalem,  at  the  farther  extremity 
of  the  temple. 
t  Calmet. 


316  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

tured  a  different  victim.  A  violent  impostor  and  false 
prophet — a  native  of  Egypt — had,  at  the  preceding 
Passover,  come  to  Jerusalem,  pretending  that  he  had 
been  sent  by  God  to  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel. 
Four  thousand  deluded  people  had  at  first  followed 
him  j  they  had,  ere  long,  increased  to  30,000.  These 
he  led  to  the  brow  of  Mount  Olivet,  and  gave  them  to 
believe  that  they  would  see  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  fall- 
ing to  the  ground,  and  a  way  miraculously  made  for  a 
triumphant  entry  into  the  city.  Felix  resolved  to 
quell  the  tumult  and  disperse  the  fanatics.  Putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  Roman  troops,  the  motley 
crowd  were  scattered  in  every  direction,  and  four  hun- 
dred of  them  slain.  The  artful  leader  succeeded  in 
escaping;  but,  at  the  very  time  when  Paul  was  now  in 
the  temple,  a  rigid  search  was  being  made,  and  rewards 
offered  for  his  apprehension.  This  explains  the  conver- 
sation which  was  now  held  between  Claudius  Lysias 
and  his  prisoner,  as  they  were  ascending,  in  the  crush, 
the  stairs  of  the  castle.* 

Paul,  in  calm  composure,  requests  a  word  of  the 
chief  officer,  "  May  I  speak  unto  thee  ? "  Lysias  allows 
him.  To  the  astonishment  of  the  latter,  he  speaks 
not  in  Hebrew,  but  in  Greek.  The  Governor  then 
asked  him  if  he  was  under  a  mistake  in  thinking  him 
that  Egyptian  impostor  who  had  led  out  into  the 
wilderness  a  multitude  of  fanatics,  to  be  slain  by  the 
troops  of  Felix?  Paul  assured  him  he  was  no  Egyptian, 
but  a  citizen  of  Tarsus,  and  begged  he  might  be  per- 
mitted to  address  the  people.  We  almost  wonder  that 
Lysias  so  readily  complied  with  his  request :   but  he 

*  See  Lewin  and  Olshausen,  with  the  references  to  the  passage  in  Jose- 
phus. 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  317 

seems  to  have  been  impressed  by  the  whole  bearing  of 
his  prisoner.  At  once  silence  appears  to  have  been 
obtained.  We  have  seen  Paul  unfolding  his  great 
Gospel  message  to  the  crowd  of  philosophers  on  Mars 
Hill  in  Athens ;  and  we  feel  that  the  scene  must  have 
been  deeply  impressive ;  but  never,  perhaps,  did  he 
address  so  vast  and  strange  an  audience  as  at  present 
from  the  castle  stairs  at  Fort  Antoni^— never  was  the 
power  of  his  words  more  deeply  felt.  The  storm  was, 
in  aTmoment,  changed  into  a  deep  calm.  Every  voice 
was  hushed  into  stillness  as  the  gentle  tones  of  the 
greatest  of  then  living  men  broke  over  the  turrets  of 
the  temple, — "  Brethren  and  fathers,  hear  me!"  What 
helped  still  more  to  lull  the  tumult  and  secure  atten- 
tion was,  that  he  no  longer  spoke  in  Greek,  but  in 
their  own  much-loved  Hebrew  tongue.  It  was  like  oil 
thrown  on  a  fretful  sea !  He  commenced  by  telling 
them  of  his  birth  and  education — his  strong  Jewish 
feelings  and  partialities  —  his  wonderful  conversion 
while  in  the  very  act  of  persecuting.  He  then  passed 
to  other  events  subsequent  to  that  great  turning-point 
in  his  history.  They  listen  to  him  with  patience  and  in 
silence,  till  he  comes  to  speak  of  his  special  destination 
as  the  Apostle  of  the  Heathen;  but  whenever  the  words 
were  uttered  which  he  tells  them  he  had  received  as 
a  special  command  from  God,  "  Depart  :  for  I  will 
send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles,"  there  was  no 
controlling  their  rage  :  "  Away,"  they  cried,  "  with 
such  a  fellow  from  the  earth ;  for  it  is  not  fit  that  he 
should  live."  *  They  dared  not  at  present  attempt 
any  violence,  as  the  prisoner  was  in  the  hands  of  Roman 
soldiers ;    and  the  only  way,  therefore,  of  exhibiting 

*  Acts  xsii.  22. 


318  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

their  wrath  was  by  threats  and  menaces.  The  Jews 
had  their  own  peculiar  way  of  expressing  passionate 
anger  or  malice.  You  remember  when  King  David 
was  going  along  by  the  side  of  Mount  Olivet,  weeping 
and  barefoot,  and  when  Shimei  came  out  to  curse  and 
revile  him,  he  further  showed  the  vehemence  of  his 
hatred  by  casting  stones  and  throwing  dust.  The 
enraged  and  agitated  Hebrew  mob  now  thronging 
around  the  stairs  of  the  castle  do  the  same  thing. 
They  tore  off  their  upper  garments  and  cast  dust  into 
the  air,  as  if  really  preparing  for  a  repetition  of  the 
murderous  scene  which  Paul  had,  many  years  before, 
"consented  to"  in  the  valley  below.  Lysias,  not 
knowing,  from  the  Hebrew  language  in  which  the 
speech  was  given,  what  the  cause  was  of  the  renewed 
uproar,  concluded  that  the  speaker  must  have  been 
guilty  of  some  great  crime.  He  commanded  that  he 
should  be  taken  back  again  to  the  castle,  and  examined 
there  by  torture,  so  as  to  get  a  confession  of  his  guilt. 
The  command  of  the  Roman  is  speedily  obeyed  ;  he 
is  even  stretched  on  the  rack,  ready  to  be  scourged. 
A  wooden  post,  slightly  inclined,  is  driven  into  the 
ground,  and  the  holy  Apostle  is  bound  tightly  to  it  by 
his  hands  and  feet.  A  centurion  stands  by  him  to  see 
that  the  order  is  duly  executed,  when  Paul,  summoning 
up  his  wonted  fortitude,  demanded,  "  Is  it  lawful  for 
you  to  scourge  one  who  is  a  Roman  uncondemned  1 " 
The  centurion  immediately  informed  Lysias  of  the  pri- 
soner's question.  The  governor  felt  he  had  placed  him- 
self in  imminent  peril  by  the  act.  "  He  was  afraid  after 
he  knew  that  he  was  a  Roman."  We  have  found  before 
now  that,  by  the  Sempronian  law,  those  were  liable  to 
severe  punishment  who,  however  high  their  rank,  pre- 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  319 

sumed  to  beat  a  Roman  citizen.  He  gave  orders  in- 
stantly that  the  cords  which  bound  him  be  untied,  but 
that  he  be  kept  in  safe  custody  within  the  fortress.  He 
was  again  secured  by  chains  between  two  soldiers.  His 
conscience,  however,  was  void  of  offence;  he  had  the 
fear  of  God,  and  no  other  fear  ;  and  he  laid  him  down 
in  that  strange  place  "in  peace  and  sleep,"  feeling 
that  God  enabled  him  "  to  dwell  in  safety." 

Next  day  a  new  persecution  awaited  him.  Lysias 
called  together  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim  to  try  his  case, 
in  the  same  hall,  Gazith,  where  Paul  himself  in  former 
days  had  sat  as  one  of  the  judges  in  condemning  the 
martyr  Stephen.  There  was  only  a  short  way  be- 
tween the  steps  that  led  down  from  the  tower  of 
Antonio  to  those  which  conducted  up  to  the  Jewish 
court."''  Strange  must  have  been  the  Apostle's  feelings 
in  entering  this  place !  and  stranger  still  the  feelings  of 
those  who  were  now  called  together  to  sit  in  judgment 
on  him !  Ananias,  though  he  had  been  deposed  from 
the  office  of  high  priest  by  the  Romans,  presided  on  this 
occasion,  as  his  successor,  Jonathan,  had  been  lately 
murdered  by  assassins.  Simeon  and  Jesus,  Paul's  old 
schoolfellows,  were  also  doubtless  there,  and  Theo- 
philus,  the  old  high  priest, — perhaps  even  some  of 
those  who  had  journeyed  along  with  him  to  Damascus  ! 
What  a  change  from  that  day  ! — the  persecutor  now 
the  persecuted  ! — twenty  full  years  he  had  been  boldly 
"preaching  that  faith"  which  he  had  sought  then  "to 
destroy  !" 

The  innocent  Apostle  looked  steadfastly  upon  those 
soventy  senators,  in  whose  presence  he  now  was,  affirm- 
ing with  boldness  that    he  had  ever  maintained  "a 

*  Howson,  vol.  ii.  p.  268. 


320  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

good  conscience  before  God."  The  rage  of  the  presid- 
ing high  priest  vented  itself  in  a  base  action.  He 
commanded  those  that  stood  near  Paul  to  smite  him 
on  the  mouth.  The  Apostle,  naturally  of  a  quick  tem- 
per, was  roused  to  indignation,  and  exclaimed,  "  God 
shall  smite  thee,  thou  whited  wall ! "  The  saying  was, 
ere  long,  fearfully  fulfilled.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  in  after  years,  Ananias  and  his 
followers  took  refuge  in  the  upper  city  from  the  fury 
of  the  opposing  faction.  His  palace  being  burnt,  he 
fled  to  the  Pretorium,  but  it  too  had  to  yield  to  the 
enemies'  assault.  The  wretched  fugitive  was  disco- 
vered hiding  in  an  aqueduct  in  the  gardens,  and  fell 
by  the  daggers  of  the  Sicarii.  "  Righteous  art  thou,  0 
Lord  ! " 

Paul,  on  this  occasion,  remarkably  followed  the 
injunction  of  his  divine  Master,  "  Be  ye  wise  as  ser- 
pents, and  harmless  as  doves."  He  soon  observed  how 
hopeless  his  cause  would  be,  argued  before  so  pre- 
judiced an  assembly.  With  his  usual  tact  and  pru- 
dence, he  turns  the  discussion  on  another  point.  He 
observed  that  the  meeting  around  him  was  composed 
partly  of  Pharisees  and  partly  of  Sadducees ;  and  as  he 
knew  there  was  a  far  more  violent  opposition  existing 
between  these  sects  than  between  either  of  them  and 
the  Christians,  he  started  the  great  topic  of  their 
rivalry,  declaring,  "lama  Pharisee,  and  the  son  of  a 
Pharisee:  for  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead 
I  am  called  in  question."  *  The  result  proved  as  he 
had  expected.  He  had  cast  a  spark  amid  combustible 
materials,  which  set  the  whole  in  a  blaze.  The  two 
factions  turned  their  weapons  against  one  another ; 

*  Acts  xxiii.  6. 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  321 

and  in  the  midst  of  the  turmoil,  Claudius  Lysias,  fear- 
ing it  might  end  seriously,  sent  down  his  troops  from 
the  castle  to  bring  back  his  prisoner  in  safety. 

We  may  now  think  of  the  solitary  Apostle,  after  the 
agitation  of  the  few  last  days,  left  all  alone  to  his 
solitary  meditations  in  the  cell  of  a  Roman  barrack. 
The  future  must  have  appeared  painfully  dark  to  him. 
The  thought  which  had  for  long  been  near  his  heart, 
to  "  see  Rome,"  and  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  world's 
capital,  seemed  now  well-nigh  hopeless.  Could  it  be 
that  his  apostolic  work  was  to  be  so  soon  terminated 
by  a  martyr's  death  1  But  God,  when  his  favoured 
servants  are  in  gloom  and  despondency,  has  always 
visited  them  with  some  special  encouragement  and 
comfort.  He  did  so  now.  In  the  depth  of  midnight, 
when  the  weary  prisoner  was  stretched  on  his  bed  of 
straw,  the  Lord  appeared  to  him,  and  said,  "  Be  of 
good  cheer,  Paul ;  for  as  thou  hast  testified  of  me  in 
Jerusalem,  so  must  thou  bear  witness  also  at  Eome."  * 

Great  need,  truly,  was  there  for  such  a  welcome 
assurance,  as  fresh  plots  were  concocted  to  effect  his 
destruction.  At  break  of  day,  forty  Jews  made  a  vow 
together,  that  "  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till 
they  had  killed  Paul."  They  made  known  their  infam- 
ous design  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders.  It  gives  us 
an  awful  idea  of  the  state  of  public  morals,  when  these 
leaders  of  the  people  could  become  a  party  to  so  hor- 
rible a  crime.  Their  plan  was  to  get  Claudius  Lysias 
to  request  another  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim,  in  order 
that  a  fresh  trial  might  take  place,  and  then  they 
would  murder  him  on  his  way  from  the  castle  of  An- 
tonio to  the  hall.     The  Apostle's  life  was  in  the  great 

*  Acts  xxiii.  11. 
X 


322  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

est  danger ;  but  God  mercifully  warded  off  the  blow, 
by  means  of  a  new  personage,  whose  name  is  brought 
before  us  here — the  son  of  that  sister  of  Paul's  whom 
we  have  already  spoken  of  at  the  commencement  of 
this  volume,  as  sharing  the  pleasures  of  infancy  with 
him  at  Tarsus,  Lysias  had,  in  kind  consideration, 
granted  free  admission  to  any  of  the  prisoner's  friends, 
and  this  nephew  (whose  name  is  not  given)  hastened  to 
tell  his  uncle  the  fearful  secret  which  had  reached  his 
ears.  When  Paul  was  seated  in  his  lonely  place  of 
concealment,  a  footstep  is  heard;  the  door  opens;  his 
young  nephew  enters  with  an  anxious  look ;  when  he 
ascertains  that  they  are  all  alone,  he  informs  him  of 
the  plot  which  had  been  devised  against  his  life.  What 
is  to  be  done  ?  The  Great  Apostle  does  not  hesitate  ; 
he  has  confidence  in  the  kindness  and  prudence  of  the 
commander  of  the  garrison,  and  instantly  asks  a  centu- 
rion to  take  the  young  man  to  the  presence  of  Lysias,  as 
he  had  something  important  to  tell  him.  The  meeting 
was  a  kind  one  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  soldier.  He 
"  took  him  by  the  hand,"  and  leading  him  aside,  asked 
him  in  private  what  he  had  to  say.  No  sooner  did  Ly- 
sias receive  the  dangerous  intelligence,  than  he  dismissed 
the  youth,  with  the  injunction  to  tell  no  one  of  what 
had  passed  between  them.  And  then,  calling  several 
of  his  officers,  he  told  them  to  be  ready  at  nine  in  the 
evening  with  two  hundred  soldiers,  seventy  cavalry, 
and  two  hundred  lancers  or  spearmen,  to  take  Paul 
down  to  the  town  of  Cesarea,  where  Felix,  the  gover- 
nor, was  then  residing.  He  further  ordered  them  to 
have  more  than  one  horse  for  the  prisoner,  probably 
one  for  each  of  the  soldiers  who  rode  on  either  side  of 
him,  and  to  whom  he  was  to  be  chained.      The  horses 


PAUL  IN  JERUSALEM.  323 

and  horsemen  were  ready  at  the  hour  appointed  at  the 
gates  of  Fort  Antonio.  Bauds  of  Jews  may  have  been 
still  lingering  on  the  streets,  talking  about  the  suc- 
cess of  the  plot  against  a  life  they  all  hated,  when 
the  troops  swept  past  them.  They  may  have  wondered 
at  so  large  a  detachment  of  soldiery  at  that  hour  of  the 
night,  but  they  would  little  dream  that  the  central 
horseman  was  the  victim  of  their  fury,  thus  "  escaping 
like  a  bird  out  of  the  snare  of  the  fowler."  We  may 
imagine  the  journey  of  seventy-six  miles.'""  The  foot 
soldiers  went  no  further  than  Antipatris,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem.  The  rest,  after  two  hard  days, 
would  be  seen  with  tired  and  jaded  horses  entering  the 
gates  of  the  seaport  town  of  the  Csesars. 

The  centurion  in  command  took  his  prisoner  at  once 
to  the  Pretorium,  or  Palace  of  Herod,  where  Felix 
lived,  and  presented,  along  with  him,  the  letter  from 
Lysias.  The  letter  was  as  follows  : — "  Claudius  Lysias 
unto  the  most  excellent  governor  Felix,  sendeth  greet- 
ing. This  man  was  taken  of  the  Jews,  and  should 
have  been  killed  of  them  :  then  came  I  with  an  army, 
and  rescued  him,  having  understood  that  he  was  a 
Roman.  And  when  I  would  have  known  the  cause 
wherefore  they  accused  him,  I  brought  him  forth  into 
their  council ;  whom  I  perceived  to  be  accused  of  ques- 
tions of  their  law,  but  to  have  nothing  laid  to  his 
charge  worthy  of  death  or  bonds.  And  when  it  was 
told  me  how  that  the  Jews  laid  wait  for  the  man,  I 
sent  straightway  to  thee,  and  gave  commandment  to 
his  accusers  also  to  say  before  thee  what  they  had 
against  him.  Farewell."  t  It  was  a  letter  worthy  of 
the  generous-hearted  writer.     If  Lysias  had  been  actu- 

*  See  the  picture.  t  Acts  xxiii.  26-30. 


324  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

ated  by  unworthy  motives,  if  he  had  wished  to  please 
the  Jews,  and  increase  his  popularity  with  them,  he 
might  have  represented  the  prisoner  as  a  "  pestilent 
fellow,"  and  worthy  only  of  death.  Had  he  done  so, 
moreover,  we  can  have  little  doubt  as  to  the  result. 
No  mercy  was  to  be  expected  from  the  hands  of  the 
abandoned  Felix ;  but  the  letter  expressly  mentions 
that  his  crime  was  merely  holding  opinions  contrary 
to  the  Jewish  law ;  nothing  was  laid  to  his  charge  de- 
manding a  severe  sentence.  Felix  having  read  it, 
looked  at  the  prisoner  who  had  been  the  cause  of  the 
disturbance,  and  put  the  question  to  him,  "  What 
province  art  thou  from  1 "  Being  told  it  was  Cilicia, 
he  gave  orders  that  he  should  be  taken  to  Herod's 
judgment-hall,  and  kept  there  until,  in  accordance  with 
law,  his  accusers  made  their  appearance. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


$sml  i»  €tm«L 

"  These  are  the  tones  to  brace  and  cheer 
The  lonely  watcher  of  the  fold, 
When  nights  are  dark  and  foemen  near — 
When  visions  fade,  and  hearts  grow  cold." 

"  And  ye  shall  be  brought  before  governors  and  kings  for  My  sake, 
for  a  testimony  against  them  and  the  Gentiles.  But  when  they  deli- 
ver you  up,  take  no  thought  how  or  what  ye  shall  speak;  for  it  shall 
be  given  you  in  that  same  hour  what  ye  shall  speak.  For  it  is  not 
ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  which  speaketh  in  you." 
—Matthew  x.  18-20. 

"  When  I  consider  this  Apostle  as  appearing  either  before  the  witty 
Athenians,  or  before  a  Roman  court  of  judicature,  in  the  presence  of 
their  great  men  and  ladies,  I  see  how  handsomely  he  accommodateth 
himself  to  the  apprehension  and  temper  of  those  politer  people." — 
Loud  Shaftesbury's  Characteristics,  vol.  i.  p.  30. 


^^  n  the  times  of  St  Paul,  a  sailor  on  the  Mediter- 
ranean, approaching  the  city  of  Cesarea,  must 
have  been  struck  with  its  greatness  and  gran- 
deur. The  first  thing  which  caught  the  eye  in 
sailing  into  its  port,  was  the  Temple  of  Sebas- 
It  was  perched  on  a  lofty  rock  in  front  of  the 
town,  dedicated  to  Rome  and  her  great  emperor,  and 
mainly  intended  as  a  sea-mark  for  mariners.  The  site 
of  the  city  had  evidently  been  selected  owing  to  the 
spaciousness  of  the  natural  harbour.  The  coast  was 
terribly  swept  by  westerly  winds,  and  there  being  no 
refuge  for  ships  between  Dora  and  Joppa,  Herod  the 
Great,  at  enormous  labour,  turned  the  natural  advan- 
tages, of  what  was  originally  a  little  fishing-town,  into 
a  great  capital.  "  He  drew  his  model,"  says  Josephus, 
"and  set  people  to  work,  and,  in  twelve  years'  time, 


328  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

finished  it.  The  buildings  were  all  of  marble,  private 
houses  as  well  as  palaces ;  but  his  master-piece  was  the 
port,  which  he  made  as  large  as  the  Piraeus  of  Athens 
— a  safe  station  against  all  winds  and  weathers."* 
Immense  blocks  of  stone,  fifty  feet  long,  were  sunk  to 
twenty  fathoms,  on  the  south  and  south-west,  to  form 
a  breakwater,  leaving  a  free  passage  only  by  the  north. 

Cesarea  seems  to  have  risen  rapidly  to  importance, 
and  as  rapidly  to  have  dwindled  into  insignificance. 
Not  long  after  the  period  of  which  we  write,  it  began 
to  decline.  It  now  lies,  as  you  see  in  our  picture, 
a  pile  of  ruins  sunk  in  the  sands.  It  is  far  distant 
even  from  the  common  coast-road,  and  therefore  com- 
paratively little  known  or  visited  by  travellers.  At 
the  time  of  St  Paul,  many  heathens  and  foreigners 
mingled  with  the  Jewish  population.  In  a  Roman- 
named  town,  where  the  Roman  procurator  lived,  it 
was  natural  to  suppose  that  there  would  be  many 
habits,  tastes,  and  customs,  introduced  from  the  great 
Roman  capital. 

In  this  city  we  left  the  Apostle,  by  the  orders  of 
Felix,  in  confinement  in  Herod's  judgment-hall  (the 
guard-room  adjoining  his  magnificent  palace),  till  his 
accusers  arrived  from  Jerusalem.  He  had  not  to  wait 
long.  In  five  days,  Ananias,  his  heart  still  burning 
with  revenge,  and  other  members  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
made  their  appearance.  They  were  accompanied  by 
an  advocate  named  Tertullus,  or  Tertius,  whose  name 
tells  us  he  was  of  Latin  origin — one  versed  in  the 
usages  of  the  Roman  law,  and  also  able  to  speak  in  the 
Latin  tongue,  both  of  which  were  necessary  qualifica- 
tions in  cases  similar  to  the  present.     Paul  was  surn- 

*  JoBcphus'  Antiquities,  boot  xv.  chap.  13. 


PAUL  IN  CESAREA.  329 

moned  forthwith  to  appear  before  his  accusers  in  the 
procurator's  court,  or  place  of  judgment — the  floor  of 
which,  if  it  were  like  others  in  the  empire,  was  beauti- 
fied with  a  tesselated  pavement — square  pieces  of  mar- 
ble, or  stones  of  various  colours,  disposed  with  art  and 
elegance.* 

Felix  takes  his  place  on  his  tribunal,  and  Tertullus 
delivers  a  speech,  which,  even  in  the  brief  outline  we 
have  of  it,  showed  great  power  and  dexterity.  He 
begins  by  words  of  flattery  to  the  judge,  complimenting 
him  on  the  only  praiseworthy  act  of  his  government — 
the  suppression  of  robbers  and  religious  fanatics,  who 
had  recently,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Egyptian  impostor,  dis- 
turbed the  peace  of  Palestine.t  Truly  it  required  some 
ingenuity  to  say  anything  praiseworthy  of  a  man  like 
Felix,  whom  Josephus  and  Tacitus  concur  in  denounc- 
ing as  a  monster  of  iniquity  and  injustice.  "  He  ex- 
ercised," says  the  latter,  "  the  royal  authority  with  the 
spirit  of  a  slave,  and  indulged  himself  in  every  species 
of  cruelty  and  lust."  Tertullus  then  details  in  succes- 
sion the  charges  brought  against  the  Apostle.  These 
were  threefold  : — 1st,  That  he  had  been  the  means  of 
creating  disturbances  among  the  Jews ;  2d,  That  he 
was  the  ringleader  of  a  sect  called  Nazarenes ;  and,  3d, 
That  he  was  guilty  of  profaning  the  Jewish  temple, 
which  Roman  kw  was  bound  to  protect  from  insult. 
The  object  of  his  accusers  evidently  was,  to  get  Felix  to 
consent  to  deliver  him  up  to  be  tried  by  their  own 
Jewish  courts — in  which  case  they  could,  with  the  ut- 
most ease,  have  effected  his  murder.     The  Jews  pre- 

*  Home's  Introduction,  vol.  ii.  p.  131. 
t  Josephus'  Antiquities,  book  xx.  chap.  8. 


330  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

sent  applauded  violently  the  speech  of  their  hired  ad- 
vocate, declaring  that  all  he  said  was  j  ust. 

If  Felix  had  possessed  the  honourable  feelings  which 
we  formerly  found  in  Gallio,  he  would,  on  charges  so 
false  and  frivolous,  have  driven  the  Jews  from  the 
judgment-seat,  ■  and  dismissed  the  prisoner ;  but  the 
Roman  purple  did  not  always  cover  true  greatness  of 
soul  or  rigid  equity. 

Paul  was  now  called  on  to  make  his  defence.  He 
did  so,  answering  the  accusations  of  Tertullus  one  by 
one;  and  concluded  by  complaining,  that  the  Asiatic 
Jews,  who  had  first  accused  him,  and  with  whom  the 
uproar  in  the  temple  had  begun,  had  not,  according  to 
the  usage  of  law,  come  forward  as  witnesses  against 
him.  You  may  read  for  yourselves  the  brief  account 
which  St  Luke  gives  of  the  Apostle's  reply.  You  will 
find  it  in  chapter  xxiv.  10-22. 

The  speech  of  the  Great  Apostle  seemed  to  make  a 
decided  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  governor;  but, 
from  all  we  can  gather  of  the  character  of  Felix,  we 
need  have  no  expectation  on  his  part  of  leniency,  or 
even  fair  dealing,  if  this  were  to  interfere  with  his  own 
private  ends.  As  to  the  innocence  of  the  Apostle,  and 
the  unfounded  nature  of  the  accusations  brought*  against 
him,  he  could  now,  after  having  heard  both  sides,  en- 
tertain little  doubt;  but  Paul  was  a  poor,  persecuted, 
hated  man.  Felix  would  be  no  sufferer  by  oppressing 
him;  but  he  might  be  so  by  offending  the  leaders  of 
the  Jewish  people.  He  declined,  therefore,  at  present 
giving  any  decision.  He  told  them  he  would  defer 
until  "  Lysias  came  down,"  who  was  shortly  expected 
from  Jerusalem.     Till  that  time  he  gave  orders  that 


PAUL  IN  CESAREA.  331 

his  prisoner  be  confined,  enjoining,  at  the  same  time, 
that  no  severity  or  harshness  be  shown  towards  him, 
but  that  any  of  his  friends  might  have  free  liberty  to 
go  and  visit  him. 

If  Lysias  came  to  Cesarea,  we  have  no  mention 
made  of  it.  But  a  few  days  after  the  public  trial, 
Felix  and  his  wife  Drusilla  sent  for  Paul  to  come  to 
the  audience-chamber  (or  a  private  apartment  in  the 
palace),  to  have  an  interview  with  them.  Drusilla  was 
the  sister  of  King  Agrippa — herself  a  Jewess.  She  is 
spoken  of  as  a  young  woman  of  great  beauty,  at  this 
time  only  eighteen  years  of  age.  She  had  married 
Azizus,  King  of  Emesa  ;  but  by  the  wicked  influence 
of  Simon  Magus,  the  friend  of  Felix,  she  deserted  her 
husband,  and  became  the  unlawful  wife  of  the  old  pro- 
fligate Felix.  Paul's  eloquence,  power,  and  earnest- 
ness seem  evidently  to  have  arrested  the  attention  of 
the  governor ;  and  Drusilla  being  a  Jewess,  and  from 
her  infancy  having  heard  much  of  Paul,  she  was  doubt- 
less from  curiosity  anxious  to  see  him.  Behold,  then, 
the  Great  Apostle  called  again  to  speak  the  word  of  his 
Master !  Two  wicked,  hardened,  selfish  individuals 
were  seated  before  him,  probably  on  benches  of  Tyrian 
purple,  and  under  a  fretted  ceiling.  Remembering 
the  manifold  vices  which  lurked  under  all  that  out- 
ward grandeur,  he  directed  the  arrow  of  conviction  to 
these  seared  consciences — reasoning  of  "  righteousness, 
temperance,  and  the  judgment  to  come."  It  was  a 
bold  thing  for  Paul  to  do ;  for  the  aged  reprobate 
before  him  had  his  life  in  his  hands — "  he  had  power 
to  crucify  him,  and  power  to  release  him ;"  and  to  irri- 
tate his  savage  temper  would  be  to  bring  down  upon 
himself  certain  vengeance ;    but   he   felt   that   if  he 


332  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

"  pleased  man,  he  was  not  the  servant  of  Christ."  It 
was  no  time  to  preach  smooth  things  ;  by  "  the  terrors 
of  the  Lord"  he  sought  to  persuade  this  ruler,  revealing 
to  him  all  the  dread  realities  of  that  day  of  wrath, 
when  small  and  great,  mighty  and  mean,  governor  and 
apostle,  would  stand  before  God.  "  To  penitent  hearts 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  preaching  the  crucified  Jesus  as 
the  Mediator;  but  to  these  worldly  individuals,  he 
displayed  him  as  the  Judge."  * 

"  No  more  he  feels  upon  his  high-raised  arm 
The  ponderous  chain,  than  does  the  playful  child 
The  bracelet,  form'd  of  many  a  flowery  link. 
Heedless  of  self,  forgetful  that  his  life 
Is  now  to  be  defended  by  his  words, 
He  only  thinks  of  doing  good  to  them 
That  seek  his  life."  t 

"  Felix  trembled  ! "  conscience  was  aroused,  and  for 
the  moment  shook  the  iron  frame  of  the  debased 
Roman  ;  but  it  was  only  for  the  moment.  Conviction 
was  suffered  to  pass  away, — "  Go  thy  way,"  said  the 
procrastinator,  "  for  this  time,  when  I  have  a  convenient 
season  I  will  call  for  thee."  Alas  !  we  fear  that  more 
convenient  season  never  came.  Indeed,  we  find  him, 
immediately  after,  guilty  of  the  meanest  and  most  dis- 
honourable conduct  towards  the  Apostle — conduct  un- 
worthy of  his  name  and  his  office.  He  seems  to  have 
held  many  conversations  and  private  conferences  with 
Paul,  to  induce  him  to  give  a  bribe  in  order  to  secure 
his  release.  He  had  heard,  probably,  that  his  rela- 
tions were  independent  or  perhaps  he  remembered 
that  the  prisoner  in  his  defence  had  hinted  at  a  collec- 
tion he  had  brought  from  a  distance  to  Jerusalem  ;$ 
and  from  the  known  generosity  of  the  Nazarene  sect, 

*  Olshausen.  f  Graham's  Poems.  J  Cave,  p.  96. 


PAUL  IN  CESAREA.  333 

he  knew  there  might  be  little  difficulty  in  getting  them 
to  subscribe  liberally  to  purchase  the  freedom  of  their 
champion.  But  the  high-minded  Christian  principle 
of  the  Apostle  scorned  the  base  and  impious  attempt 
thus  to  evade  the  law.  He  would  rather  wear  his 
chains  than  stoop  to  dishonour.  The  consequence,  how- 
ever, was  a  continuance  of  his  imprisonment  for  two 
long  years  in  the  town  of  Cesarea.  How  he  occupied 
himself  during  this  lengthened  interval  in  his  life  we 
know  not.  It  must  have  been  a  precious  season  for 
turning  his  eye  inwards  on  his  own  soul,  and  foster- 
ing the  work  of  grace  there.  It  was,  as  a  writer  has 
called  it,  "the  school  for  his  own  personal  improve- 
ment"*— the  Patmos  of  his  active  life,  where  in  silence 
and  solitude  he  was  permitted  to  hold  communion  with 
his  God.  We  may  imagine  him  seated  in  his  prison 
or  private  house,  chained  by  the  right  hand  to  the  left 
arm  of  a  Roman  soldier,  who  was  held  responsible  for 
the  safety  of  his  charge.  Much  of  his  time  may  pro- 
bably have  been  spent  in  writing  epistles  to  his  various 
churches,  which  are  now  lost  to  us, — and  also  in  re- 
ceiving visits  from  Christians  in  Cesarea  and  Judea, 
who,  as  we  have  said,  were  allowed  to  come  and  cheer 
the  hours  of  his  solitude. 

Little  did  the  believers  at  Cesarea,  who,  a  little  while 
before,  wept  so  touchingly  at  his  going  to  Jerusalem, 
think  that  that  very  journey  was  to  lead  to  a  personal 
residence  among  them  for  two  whole  years.  Among 
the  friends  who  thus  visited  him,  probably  Timothy 
was,  as  formerly,  a  frequent  and  an  always  welcome 
guest.  We  know  that  Philip  and  his  pious  daughters 
were  citizens  of  Cesarea,  and  more  than  likely  Cornelius 

*  Olshausen. 


334  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

the  centurion  was  still  stationed  in  the  Roman  bar- 
racks, rendering  still  to  *  Caesar  the  things  which  were 
Csesar's,  and  to  God  the  things  which  were  God's." 
Luke,  too,  we  may  believe,  was  much  with  him.  It  has 
even  been  supposed  by  many  that  the  beloved  physi- 
cian occupied  these  years  of  leisure  in  writing  his  Gos- 
pel, with  the  inspired  Apostle  at  his  side,  to  guide  him 
in  the  momentous  task. 

During  this  same  period,  Felix  was  recalled  by  the 
Emperor  to  Rome.  His  rapacity  and  violence  had 
made  him  universally  hated;  and  a  cruel  massacre  of 
the  Jews  he  had  ordered  in  the  streets  of  Cesarea,  at 
the  very  time  Paul  was  confined  in  the  Pretorium,  had 
added  to  the  popular  hatred  which  eight  years  of 
cruelty  and  selfishness  had  fostered.  Before  leaving, 
the  selfishness  of  his  character  was  still  further  dis- 
played. He  wished  to  appease  and  conciliate  the  Jews. 
He  succeeded  in  doing  so  by  an  act  which  cost  him  no- 
thing,— et  he  left  Paul  bound"  "  We  are  rather  tempted 
to  wonder,  that  to  show  them  a  still  greater  favour,  he 
did  not  order  Paul  for  execution.  But  here  the  provi- 
dence of  God  interfered  :  God  had  said  to  Felix,  as  he 
said  once  before  to  Satan,  '  Behold,  he  is  in  thine 
hand,  but  save  his  life.'  The  lion  can  only  go  the 
length  of  his  chain ;  and  thanks  be  to  God,  that  chain 
is  held  by  One,  who,  although  he  is  almighty  to  de- 
stroy, is  yet  '  almightiest  to  redeem.' "  *  We  know 
little  more  of  this  "  bold,  bad  man."  A  number  of  Jews 
followed,  at  his  departure,  to  accuse  him  before  the 
Emperor  at  Rome  ;  but  by  the  powerful  mediation  of 
his  brother  Pallas,  he  escaped  in  this  world  the  severe 
punishment  his  many  crimes  deserved. 

*  Blunt,  vol.  ii.  p.  181. 


PAUL  IN  CESAREA.  335 

Festus  succeeded  Felix  in  the  Governor's  house  at 
Cesarea.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  just  and  honour- 
able man — a  favourable  contrast  to  his  predecessor.  At 
the  outset  of  his  official  career,  he  was  very  properly 
anxious  to  get  an  insight  into  the  character,  customs, 
tastes,  and  feelings  of  those  he  had  come  to  govern.* 
Accordingly,  after  he  had  been  only  three  days  in  his 
new  residence,  he  set  out  for  Jerusalem.  This,  more- 
over, may  probably  have  been  a  customary  mark  of 
respect  on  the  part  of  a  new  imperial  Prefect. 

Ismael,  the  son  of  Fabei,  had  by  this  time  been 
appointed  to  the  vacant  office  of  high  priest,t  inherit- 
ing all  the  bitter  feelings  of  those  who  went  before  him 
towards  the  Nazarenes.  No  sooner  did  Festus  arrive 
in  the  Jewish  capital,  than  the  chief  priests  and  the 
leaders  of  the  nation,  along  with  many  of  the 
people,'  renewed  in  his  ears  the  accusation  against 
Paul.  They  were  especially  desirous  that  he  would 
grant  liberty  to  have  him  brought  up  for  trial  again  at 
Jerusalem  before  the  Sanhedrim — their  real  and  covert 
purpose  being  to  have  hired  assassins  ready  to  despatch 
him  on  the  road  thither.  Festus,  however,  in  a  spirit 
worthy  of  a  noble-minded  Roman,  refused  to  give  up 
his  prisoner  in  this  unlawful  way  ;  adding,  if  they  had 
anything  of  which  to  accuse  him,  they  must  come 
down  to  Cesarea,  and  there  meet  him  face  to  face.  On 
the  return  of  Festus,  in  a  few  days,  to  the  seat  of  his 
government,  the  accusers  of  the  Apostle  followed  him ; 
the  day  after  his  arrival,  we  find  Paul  once  more 
brought  before  the  judgment-seat,  and  his  relentless 
foes  preferring  their  old  charges.  Festus,  with  a 
number  of  assessors  or  jury  at   his   side,   heard  the 

*  Howson,  vol.  ii.  p.  297.  t  J°s-  book  xx.  chap.  viii. 


336  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

pleadings.  He  at  once  saw  that  they  had  reference, 
not  to  any  political  offences,  bnt  to  differences  in  reli- 
gions matters,  which,  he  felt,  lay  beyond  his  province ; 
moreover,  that  in  all  their  accnsations  there  was  no- 
thing that  made  the  prisoner  worthy  of  death.  How- 
ever, with  a  desire  probably  to  gratify  the  accusers, 
and  alleging  the  difficulty  he  had  in  settling  the  ques- 
tion, he  proposed  to  Paul  to  go  up  under  his  pro- 
tection to  Jerusalem,  and  be  tried  there  before  the 
Sanhedrim.  He  promised  that  he  would  himself 
take  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  secure  that  these 
should  be  impartial.  The  Apostle  saw  the  certain 
destruction  awaiting  him  if  this  were  determined  upon. 
There  was  only  one  way  left  by  which  he  could  save 
himself  from  the  "lion's  mouth."  But  his  clear  judg- 
ment does  not  permit  him  for  a  moment  to  hesitate. 
He  claims  his  privilege  as  a  Roman  citizen.  He  pro- 
nounces one  little  sentence  which  changes  his  whole 
history  :  he  must  have  felt,  while  uttering  it,  that  it 
involved  the  issues  of  life  or  death : — "  I  appeal  unto 
C^sar." 

These  words,  I  repeat,  not  only  changed  in  a  moment 
the  whole  case,  but  gave  a  new  character  to  the 
Apostle's  future.  It  was  not  the  first  time  we  have 
found  him  availing  himself  of  his  right  of  citizenship.  It 
was  a  privilege  peculiarly  valuable  at  the  present  crisis, 
protecting  him,  as  it  did,  from  the  abuse  of  authority. 
His  suit  now  must  be  tried  before  the  Emperor  himself, 
and  in  the  Roman  capital.  Festus  was  doubtless  aston- 
ished at  the  new  turn  which  events  had  taken  \  perhaps, 
too,  affronted  at  the  great  boldness  of  the  prisoner.  He 
consulted  those  around  him  if  the  plea  were  a  sound 
one,  and  in  every  way  admissible.       Discovering  that 


PAUL  IN  CESAREA.  337 

he  had  no  power  to  set  it  aside,  he  declared,  as 
the  decision  of  the  court,  and  as  if  he  seemed  right 
glad  to  get  rid  of  the  entire  matter,  "  Hast  thou 
appealed  unto  Csesar  1  unto  Caesar  sbalt  thou  go."  * 

It  only  further  remained  for  Festus  to  send  to  the 
supreme  tribunal  in  Rome  the  necessary  official  docu- 
ments about  the  case  that  was  thus  appealed,  and  to 
keep  the  person  of  the  accused  in  safety  before  an 
opportunity  occurred  to  forward  him  for  his  final  trial. 
He  was,  however,  in  difficulty  as  to  what  charges  he 
could  specify  against  Paul,  and  which  he  could  send 
along  with  him  to  the  Emperor.  In  his  perplexity,  a 
thought  occurred  to  him  :  Agrippa  II.,  King  of  Chal- 
cis,  with  his  sister  Bernice  (sister  also  to  Drusilla),  had 
just  come  from  Cesarea  Philippi  to  offer  their  respects 
to  Festus  on  his  accession  to  the  supreme  power  in 
the  other  Cesarea.  As  Agrippa  had,  from  his  ear- 
liest years,  been  familiar  with  Jewish  customs  and 
laws,  Festus  resolved  to  consult  with  him  on  this 
matter.  He  mentioned  to  him  the  opinions  the 
prisoner  was  charged  with  holding,  and  especially 
"  concerning  one  Jesus,  who  had  died  and  was  alive 
again."  t  Agrippa  had  often  before  heard  of  the  fame 
of  St  Paul ;  curiosity  made  him  desirous  of  seeing  him 
personally,  and  next  day  Festus  resolved  to  gratify  his 

*  Among  other  testimonies,  "a  passage  in  Pliny's  Epistle  to  Trajan 
confirms  this  right  and  privilege  which  Roman  freemen  enjoyed,  of  appeal- 
ing from  provincial  courts  to  Rome.  He  thus  writes: — 'The  method  I 
have  observed  towards  those  who  have  been  brought  before  me  as  Chris- 
tians is  this  :  I  interrogated  them  whether  they  were  Christians.  If  they 
confessed,  I  repeated  the  question  twice  again,  adding  threats  at  the  same 
time,  when,  if  they  still  persevered,  I  ordered  them  to  be  immediately 
punished.  There  were  others  also  brought  before  me,  possessed  with  the 
same  infatuation,  but  being  citizens  of  Rome,  I  directed  them  to  be  carried 
thither.''" — Home's  Introduction,  vol.  ii.  p.  129. 

|  Acts  xxv.  19. 

Y 


338  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

wish.  The  Apostle,  chained  to  the  soldier  who  guarded 
him,  was  ushered  into  the  audience-chamber  in  the 
Pretorium,  where  Agrippa,  Bernice,  and  Festus  were 
waiting  in  pomp  to  receive  him.  Roman  officers  quar- 
tered in  the  barracks  and  some  leading  people  of  the 
city  were  also  invited  to  be  present.  Paul  must  have 
remembered  the  words  of  his  Lord,  which  were  now 
strikingly  fulfilled  as  he  stood  in  bonds  before  this 
royal  audience — "  Ye  shall  be  brought  before  kings 
and  rulers  for  my  name's  sake."  *  Festus  began  by 
making  a  formal  speech,  stating  the  case  of  the  pri- 
soner, and  his  perplexity  in  knowing  how  to  represent 
it  to  the  Emperor.  Agrippa  then  asked  Paul  to  speak 
for  himself.  The  Apostle  willingly  complied.  He  went 
minutely  over  the  circumstances  of  his  own  conver- 
sion, declaring  that  the  .faithful  performance  of  his 
Divine  mission  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles  had  drawn 
down  upon  him  the  hatred  and  revenge  of  the  Jews ; 
that  all  his  teaching  and  preaching  was  not  contrary 
to,  but  in  accordance  with,  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
who  had  testified  "  that  Messiah  should  suffer,  and 
that  He  should  be  the  first  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and 
should  show  light  to  the  house  of  Israel,  and  also  to  the 
Gentiles."  t 

Festus  had  listened  with  silent  attention.  He  could 
not  have  failed  to  admire  the  simple  but  impressive 
way  in  which  the  accused  had  stated  his  case — the 
grace  of  his  manner,  and  the  sincerity  of  his  views. 
But  when  he  heard  about  the  bright  light  on  the  road 
to  Damascus,  the  voice  from  heaven,  and  worse  than 
all,  his  reference  to  the  resurrection,  he  at  once  put 
the  prisoner  down  for  a  fanatic  or  enthusiast,  who  had 

*  Matt.  x.  18.  t  Acts  xxvi.  1-23. 


PAUL  IN  CESAREA.  339 

overworked  his  brain  with  severe  study ;  and,  interrupt- 
ing him,  said,  "Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much 
learning  doth  make  thee  mad."  He  was  evidently  sur- 
prised that  a  man  so  well  educated  and  talented,  and 
more  than  all,  a  Roman  citizen,  could  give  heed  to  such 
"cunningly  devised  fables" — submitting  to  evil,  po- 
verty, scourging,  imprisonment,  and  all  without  hope  of 
reward.  To  a  selfish  man  of  the  world,  there  was  no- 
thing but  insanity  in  all  this.  The  Apostle  calmly 
replied,  "  I  am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  but  speak 
forth  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness."  Then  turning 
to  Agrippa  he  made  the  appeal — "  King  Agrippa,  be- 
lievest  thou  the  prophets  1  I  know  that  thou  believ- 
est ; "  I  know  that  thou  believest  the  testimony  of 
those  holy  men  who  have  told  that  Christ  must  needs 
suffer.  The  reply  of  Agrippa  showed  how  deeply  moved 
he  was — "  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian." What  a  confession  for  a  monarch  to  make  to  one 
standing  before  him  in  chains  !  In  answer,  Paul  held 
up  his  hands,  clanking  with  these  fetters,  and  made 
the  noble  and  bold  reply,  "  I  would  to  God,  that  not 
only  thou,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  were  both 
almost,  and  altogether  such  as  I  am,  except  these  bonds." 
Never  was  there  a  finer  protestation — never  a  more 
glorious  testimony  to  the  happiness  of  the  soul  at  peace 
with  God.  With  all  his  chains,  and  the  dark  prospect 
of  trial  before  him,  the  Apostle  not  only  felt,  but 
boldly  avowed  in  the  presence  of  a  king,  that  he  was 
the  happier  of  the  two  ! 

But,  alas  !  Agrippa  was  not  "  altogether  persuaded." 
The  name  of  Jesus,  which  was  the  boast  of  Paul,  was 
hated  by  Agrippa's  proud  countrymen.     He  would  not 


340  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

make  up  his  mind  to  part  with  a  corruptible  crown, 
and  thus,  we  fear,  he  lost  the  incorruptible. 

The  meeting  thus  ended.  As  the  listeners  talked 
the  case  over,  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
accused  had  committed  no  crime  worthy  of  death  or 
of  imprisonment, — indeed,  Agrippa  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  he  might  have  been  released  at  once,  if 
he  had  not  already  appealed  unto  Csesar.  That  appeal, 
however,  having  been  made  by  law,  it  could  not  be 
departed  from ;  the  first  opportunity  that  occurs,  the 
prisoner  must  be  sent  to  Rome.  His  own  ardent 
wish  was  thus  at  last  to  be  fulfilled — not  that  he  had 
ever  doubted  that,  in  some  way  or  other,  the  hand  of 
God  would  bring  it  about;  for  in  the  Castle  of  Antonio, 
you  remember,  two  years  before,  his  Saviour  had  ap- 
peared to  him,  and  told  him,  that  as  he  had  witnessed 
for  him  at  Jerusalem,  so  also  was  he  to  witness  in  the 
great  city  of  the  empire.  In  his  voyage  to  the  world's 
mighty  capital,  therefore,  we  must  trace  in  the  next 
L-hapter  "  the  footsteps  of  St  PauL" 


CHAPTER  XX 


"Borne  upon  the  Ocean's  foam, 
Far  from  native  land  and  home, 
Midnight's  curtain,  dense  with  wrath, 
Brooding  o'er  our  venturous  path, 
While  the  mountain  wave  is  rolling, 
And  the  ship's  bell  faintly  tolling — 
Saviour  !  on  the  boisterous  sea 
Bid  us  rest  secure  in  Thee. 

Blast  and  surge  conflicting  hoarse, 
Sweep  us  on  with  headlong  force ; 
And  the  bark,  which  tempests  urge, 
Moans  and  trembles  at  their  scourge : 
Yet  should  wildest  tempests  swell, 
Be  Thou  near,  and  all  is  well — 
Saviour !  on  the  stormy  sea 
Let  us  find  repose  in  Thee." 

*'  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  sea ;  even  there  shall  Thy  hand  lead  me,  and  Thy  right 
hand  shall  hold  me." — Ps.  exxxix.  9,  10. 


W  T  was  probably  about  the  end  of  summer 
r  that  Paul  and  his  two  companions,  Luke 
^  v  and  Aristarchus  of  Macedonia,  set  sail  for 
Snfe^  Rome  from  the  port  of  Cesarea.  They  em- 
barked in  a  coasting  vessel,  bound  for  Adra- 
myttium,  a  place  in  the  north-west  of  the 
province  of  Asia  Minor.  We  have  no  means  of  ascertain- 
ing what  the  crew  consisted  of,  whether  many  or  few. 
Julius,  a  centurion  of  the  Augustan  cohort,  was  the  offi- 
cer in  charge  of  the  prisoners ;  and  he  had  a  number  of 
soldiers  under  him  to  guard  them.  It  is  not  improbable 
there  were  several  others  on  board,  being  conveyed,  like 
these  Christian  missionaries,  for  trial  to  the  capital. 
They  coasted  along  the  shores  of  Palestine  and  Phe- 
nicia  till  they  arrived  at  Sidon.  This  was  a  distance  of 
eighty  miles,  which,  however,  could  be  easily  accom- 


344  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

plished  in  twenty-four  hours.  Here,  while  the  vessel 
was  at  anchor,  Paul  received  permission  to  go  on  shore 
and  visit  any  Christian  friends  or  brethren.  It  is  pro- 
bable the  officer  had  received  orders,  before  leaving,  to 
treat  the  Apostle  with  respect  and  kindness ;  at  all 
events,  we  read  "that  he  treated  him  courteously,  and 
gave  him  liberty  to  go  to  his  friends  and  refresh  him- 
self." *  It  is  more  than  probable,  also,  that  Julius  had 
become  intimately  acquainted  with  Paul  during  his 
two  years'  residence  at  Cesarea,  and  had  then  formed 
that  deep  regard  for  his  character  which  is  manifested 
throughout  the  eventful  voyage  on  which  they  have 
just  entered.t 

No  sooner  had  they  set  sail  again  from  Sidon,  than 
the  wind  became  unfavourable,  blowing  from  the  west- 
ward. Their  direct  route  to  Asia  Minor  was  by  the 
southern  side  of  Cyprus  (keeping  it  on  their  right), 
and  taking  a  straight  course,  as  had  been  done  two 
years  before  by  the  Apostle;  but,  in  consequence  of 
the  wind  being  right  against  them,  they  had  to  coast 
along  the  shore,  taking  a  circuit  by  the  north  of  the 
Island.  They  must  at  many  points  have  been  within 
sight  of  land.  Paul,  for  the  last  time,  may  have 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  lofty  tops  of  Mount  Taurus,  as 
he  sailed  along  the  bold  headlands  of  his  native  Cilicia. 
By  the  influence  of  some  favouring  breezes,  which  pre- 
vail at  that  season  of  the  year,  they  made  rapid  pro- 
gress along  the  Cilician  and  Pamphylian  coasts.  The 
first  place  they  anchored  at  was  Myra,  a  town  in  the 
south  of  the  province  of  Lycia.     Its  situation  was  a 


*  Acts  xxvii.  3. 

t  The  reader  is  now  requested  to  follow  the  line  marked  in  black  on  the 
Map. 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  345 

remarkable  one — at  the  mouth  of  a  narrow  and  preci- 
pitous valley  which  formed  the  outlet  from  a  vast  pile 
of  mountains  beyond.  The  town  was  built  on  a  height 
about  two  and  a  half  miles  up  the  river,  whose  broad 
channel  was  guarded  by  a  heavy  chain  which  stretched 
across  from  shore  to  shore.  Though  now  an  utter 
ruin,  Myra  seems  to  have  been,  in  Paul's  time,  a  well- 
known  and  favourite  port  for  merchant- vessels  of  the 
Mediterranean.  It  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  here  our  voyagers  found  a  corn-ship  of  Alexan- 
dria on  its  way  to  Italy,  as  the  Alexandrian  vessels 
often  put  into  its  port  from  stress  of  weather. 

We  may  wonder  how  these  ships  would  take  such  a 
round-about  way  as  this,  in  going  to  Italy.  Why  not 
skirt  along  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  then  direct  north- 
wards? The  reason  was,  that  at  that  season  of  the 
year  a  strong  north-west  wind  always  blew  along  the 
coast ;  and,  therefore,  although  increasing  the  distance, 
they  generally  preferred  going  first  northwards  to  the 
shores  of  Asia  Minor,  thence  westwards  among  the 
/Egean  islands.  These  islands,  moreover,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  modern  compass,  served  as  landmarks  to 
enable  them  to  shape  their  course. 

It  would  seem  that  the  original  intention  had  been 
to  take  the  prisoners  the  whole  way  to  Adramyttium, 
then  to  conduct  them  by  land  through  the  Via  Egna- 
tia  to  the  port  of  Dyrrachium,  and  thence  across  the 
Adriatic  to  Home.  This  was  the  route  by  which,  in 
after  years,  one  who  bore  the  martyr-spirit  of  the 
Great  Apostle,  (Polycarp,)  was  taken  from  Antioch  to 
the  city  of  the  Tiber.*  But  the  centurion  now  decided 
on  a  different  plan ;  he  abandons  all  idea  of  the  land- 

*  See  Lewin,  p.  713, 


346  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

journey,  and  places  his  prisoners  in  the  Alexandrian 
corn-ship. 

It  is  probable  that  this  new  vessel  was  considerably 
larger  than  the  one  which  brought  them  from  Cesarea. 
The  Egyptian  ships  of  commerce  were  the  largest  in 
the  Mediterranean.  We  must  not,  therefore,  think 
of  Paul  in  this  voyage — as  some  of  us,  perhaps,  have 
been  accustomed  to  think  of  him — sailing  in  a  rude 
bark,  or  small  trading-vessel,  with  a  handful  of  com- 
panions ;  he  was  within  vast  wooden  walls,  not  unwor- 
thy of  many  of  our  own  merchantmen.* 

Lucian,  who  lived  in  the  next  century,  gives  an 
amusing  description  of  one  of  these  Alexandrian  corn- 
ships  coming  into  the  port  of  Athens.  It  is  lying  at 
the  Pirieus,  and  the  Athenians,  with  their  well-known 
love  of  "  seeing  things  new,"  come  crowding  down  to 
inspect,  the  floating  monster.  They  are  described  as 
being  greatly  struck  with  its  size — 180  feet  long,  and 
45  wide.  Its  masts,  yards,  cables,  cabins,  anchors,  cap- 
stans, windlasses — all  about  it  formed  subject  of  com- 
ment and  wonder ;  from  the  goddess  on  its  prow,  to 
the  golden  goose  on  its  stern ;  and  the  corn  in  its  store, 
which  was  enough  to  "keep  all  Attica  for  a  year."t 

They  sail  from  the  port  of  Myra,  and  they  had  good 
reason  to  calculate  on  a  favourable  voyage;  for  this 
being  the  beginning  of  September,  the  Etesian  winds 
might  be  expected  to  cease.  These,  however,  had  con- 
tinued longer  than  usual.  He  who  holdeth  the  ele- 
ments in  His  hands,  had  some  wise  reason  for  detain- 
ing the  south  wind,  which  would  have  brought  them 
in  due  time  to  a  quiet  haven. 

A  distance  of  130  miles,  to  Cnidus,  is  performed 

*  Howson.  t  See  the  passage  given  in  fall  by  Mr  Lcwin. 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  347 

slowly — after  "  many  days."  Tossed  about  with  con- 
trary weather,  they  resolve  to  run  down  to  the  south- 
ern shores  of  Crete,  where  they  would  be  protected 
from  the  fury  of  the  north-west  wind,  and  take  refuge, 
if  needed,  in  some  of  its  harbours.  By  tacking  and 
beating  about,  they  accomplished  the  voyage  without 
difficulty  till  they  came  to  Cape  Matala;  but,  when- 
ever they  doubled  that  promontory,  the  full  force  of 
the  westerly  gale  met  them  in  the  face,  and  no  vessel 
could  ride  out  the  blast.  They  gladly  ran  into  a  place 
called  Fair  Havens,  and  anchored  behind  some  bold 
rocks.  It  now  became  a  question  whether  it  would  be 
advisable  to  winter  there,  or  to  proceed  to  another 
harbour,  and  a  more  secure  one — the  port  of  Phoenix, 
or  Lutro,  forty  miles  westward.  A  council  seems  to 
have  been  held  on  board  the  ship.  It  shows  the  confi- 
dence reposed  already  in  the  good  judgment  of  Paul, 
that  he  was  not  only  permitted  to  be  present,  but 
allowed  to  give  his  opinion  as  to  what  was  best  to  be 
done  in  the  present  "  perils  of  waters."  He  was  clearly 
of  opinion  they  should  not  proceed,  but  avail  them- 
selves of  the  roadstead  in  "  Fair  Havens."  "  Sirs," 
said  he,  "  I  perceive  that  this  voyage  will  be  with  hurt 
and  much  damage,  not  only  of  the  lading  and  ship, 
but  also  of  our  lives."'"  But  the  advice,  which  so  soon 
turned  out  a  wise  one,  was  not  assented  to.  The  cen- 
turion naturally  thought  the  captain  and  pilot  were 
better  judges,  and  he  decided  that  they  should  pro- 
ceed. 

Towards  the  close  of  October,  the  wind  all  at  once 
suddenly  changed ;  the  sky  cleared,  the  sails  were 
hoisted,  and  the  crew,  little  aware  of  coming  dangers, 

*  Acts  xxvii.  10. 


348  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

were  proceeding  round  Cape  Mataja  to  this  new  anchor- 
age. All  at  once,  after  rounding  the  Cape,  another 
violent  wind  came  sweeping  down  from  the  mountains 
of  Crete.  It  was  a  peculiar  hurricane,  known  to  the 
sailors  by  the  name  of  Euroclydon.  So  furious  was  it, 
that  they  were  utterly  unable  either  to  retrace  their 
steps  or  proceed.  They  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
storm.  The  helmsman  lost  all  command  over  the  ves- 
sel. They  were  involved  in  a  sort  of  whirlwind,  which 
lashed  the  sea  into  fury,  and  drove  them  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Clauda,  now  Gozzo,  a  small  island  to  the  south- 
west of  Crete.  There  being,  however,  no  anchorage 
there,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  make  every  pre- 
paration for  weathering  the  storm.  Large  ropes,  which 
they  had  on  board  just  to  meet  such  an  emergency  as 
now  occurred,  were  taken  for  "  undergirding "  the 
ship ;  that  is  to  say,  they  were  tied  round  and  round 
the  under-part  of  the  vessel,  meeting  on  the  deck,  the 
design  being  to  prevent  the  consequences  of  springing 
a  leak;*  perhaps  the  storm  had  raged  so  violently, 
when  her  sails  were  up,  as  to  have  already  strained  her 
and  started  her  timbers.  They  "lowered  the  gear," 
took  down  a  number  of  sails,  some  of  which  were 
doubtless  already  shivered  to  pieces,  and  others  which, 
by  remaining  up,  added  to  their  danger. 

The  vessel  now  drifted  from  Clauda  west  by  north. 
They  must  beware,  however,  of  scudding  before  the 
wind,  else  twenty-four  hours  will  sweep  them  a  wreck 
on  the  great  sandbank  of  Africa.     These  sandbanks 

*  An  instance  of  the  same  kind  is  mentioned  in  Lord  Anson's  Voyage 
Round  the  World.  Speaking  of  a  Spanish  man-of-war  in  a  storm,  he  says, 
"  They  were  obliged  to  throw  overboard  all  their  upper-deck  guns,  and 
take  six  turns  of  the  cable  round  the  ship  to  prevent  her  opening."— 
Quoted  by  Barnes. 


THE  SHIPW11ECK.  349 

were  constantly  shifting  their  position  by  the  action  of 
the  sea,  so  that  they  could  not  be  sure  how  near  they 
might  be  to  danger.  The  storm  rages  fiercely  as  ever. 
The  second  and  third  day  pass,  and  no  prospect  of 
abatement.  The  day  after  Clauda  was  left,  they  took 
the  precaution  to  lighten  the  ship  by  casting  overboard 
what  was  least  valuable.  More  than  probably  she  had 
now  "sprung  a  leak,"  water  was  fast  getting  in,  and, 
on  the  third  day,  all  hands  on  deck  were  employed  in 
throwing  whatever  could  be  spared  overboard.  In  this 
was  included  the  tackling  of  the  ship ;  and  when  Luke 
tells  us,  "  we  cast  it  out  with  our  own  hands,"  we  may 
picture  the  Great  Apostle  and  Evangelist  lending  their 
assistance  in  these  awful  moments.  The  vast  main- 
yard  would  require  every  effort  to  plunge  it  into  the 
roaring  sea. 

Days  of  suspense  and  hardship  followed.  The  sky 
was  quite  dark  ;  no  observations  could  be  made.  My 
readers  may  picture  the  terrible  scene.  The  creaking 
of  the  timbers — the  howling  of  the  storm — the  pas- 
sengers, with  exhausted  bodies,  plying  the  pumps  night 
and  day,  and  all  seemingly  in  vain.  .  "  Neither  stars 
nor  sun  were  seen  for  many  days."  Where  they  were, 
they  could  not  tell ;  for  the  valuable  compass,  as  I 
have  a  little  ago  said,  was  not  discovered  at  that  time, 
and  they  were  wholly  dependent  on  the  observation 
of  the  heavenly  bodies.  The  next  moment  they  might 
strike  on  some  rock,  or  be  driven  on  some  unknown 
shore.  Add  to  all  this,  the  provisions  were  so  injured, 
that  they  began  to  suffer  from  want  of  food ;  and  so 
fast  was  the  water  gaining  ground,  that  the  crew  seem 
to    have    resigned    themselves   to    hopeless    despair. 


350  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Where  was  Paul  all  this  while  1  Doubtless  he  bore 
his  part  nobly  in  all  these  sufferings  and  endurances ; 
but  there  was  one  duty  which  he  specially  engaged 
in,  in  those  hours  of  terror.  As  at  Damascus,  in  the 
quiet  chamber  of  the  street  called  "  Straight,"  so  here, 
amid  the  moanings  of  the  storm,  "behold,  he  prayeth !" 

"  Behold  the  man  of  God  ! 

His  hallow'd  voice  of  pi-ayer 
Rises  above  the  stifled  groan 
Of  that  intense  despair. 

How  precious  are  those  tones 

On  that  sad  verge  of  life, 
Amid  the  fierce  and  freezing  storm, 

And  the  mountain-billows'  strife !" 

His  prayer  is  heard  !  He  had  been  wrestling  with  that 
God  who  commandeth  the  winds  and  the  sea,  and  they 
obey  him.  God,  at  midnight,  gives  his  honoured  ser- 
vant another  of  those  visions  with  which  he  had  already 
more  than  once  favoured  him  in  his  hour  of  trial.  An 
angel  wings  his  flight  across  these  dark  waters — visits 
that  labouring  vessel — and,  amid  the  roar  of  the  piti- 
less storm,  whispers,  "  Fear  not,  Paul."  The  Aj>ostle, 
at  the  dawn  of  tke  next  day,  calls  the  heathen  passen- 
gers and  crew  around  him ;  and,  lifting  up  his  own 
voice  amid  the  din  of  the  waters,  told  the  glad  news  : 
"Sirs,  ye  should  have  hearkened  unto  mp,  and  not  have 
loosed  from  Crete,  and  to  have  gained  this  harm  and 
loss.  And  now  I  exhort  you  to  be  of  good  cheer  :  for 
there  shall  be  no  loss  of  any  man's  life  among  you,  but 
of  the  ship.  For  there  stood  by  me  this  night  the 
angel  of  God,  whose  I  am,  and  whom  I  serve,  saying, 
Fear  not,  Paul ;  thou  must  be  brought  before  Csesar  : 
and,  lo,  God  hath  given  thee  all  them  that  sail  with 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  351 

thee.  Wherefore,  sirs,  be  of  good  cheer  :  for  I  believe 
God,  that  it  shall  be  even  as  it  was  told  me.  Howbeit 
we  must  be  cast  upon  a  certain  island."  * 

There  is  something  very  sublime  in  this.  To  see  a 
poor  bound  prisoner,  on  his  way  to  the  bar,  a  convict, 
in  a  convict  ship,  standing  forth  at  this  awful  crisis, 
alone  able  to  comfort  and  sustain  a  sinking  crew.  He 
had  known  in  the  past  the  faithfulness  of  God's  word, 
and  he  believes  it  now.  He  looked  around  him  on  the 
mountain  billows,  but  he  rejoiced  in  the  Psalmist's 
assurance,  "  The  Lord  sitteth  on  the  floods,  yea,  the 
Lord  sitteth  King  for  ever."  "  Though  the  waters 
thereof  roar  and  be  troubled, — though  the  mountains « 
shake  with  the  swelling  thereof," — "the  Lord  on  high 
is  mightier  than  the  noise  of  many  waters,  yea,  than 
the  mighty  waves  of  the  sea."  The  night  before,  "  all 
hope  that  they  should  be  saved  was  taken  away."  The 
next  day  no  ray  of  light  fringed  these  dark  clouds ; 
but,  though  the  sea  was  still  running  mountains  high, 
he  was  not  afraid, — "  his  heart  was  fixed,  trusting  in 
the  Lord." 

His  speech  soothed  the  agitated  spirits  around.  The 
crew  were  nerved  by  his  words  of  encouragement,  and 
set  themselves  with  new  vigour  to  weather  the  tempest. 
It  was  raging  still  with  unabated  violence.  Fourteen 
days  in  succession  they  drifted  along  the  trough  of  the 
ocean.  At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  day,  about  mid- 
night, the  well-known  sound  of  "  breakers"  fell  on  the 
ear  of  the  trembling  mariners,  and  warned  them  that 
they  must  be  drawing  near  to  land.  Through  the  hazy 
darkness  they  descried  to  the  left  a  fringe  of  white  foam. 
They  let  down  the  sounding-lead — the  depth  of  the  sea 

*  Acts  xxvii.  21-26. 


352  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

was  twenty  fathoms ;  they  sounded  shortly  after,  it  was 
only  fifteen !  As  they  were  so  rapidly  coming  to  shal- 
low water,  they  saw  that  their  only  hope  of  safety  was 
to  get  the  ship  anchored  till  day-dawn,  aDd  then  to 
run  in  the  best  way  they  could  to  some  creek  or  bay 
in  this  strange  coast.  Orders  were  given  to  cast  out 
four  anchors  by  the  stern ;  but  after  this  was  done,  as 
they  had  good  ground  to  fear  she  might  break  from 
these  and  be  driven  on  shore,  every  eye  "looked 
anxiously  for  the  day." 

And  what  land  was  this  they  were  now  approaching  1 
All  the  description  we  have  of  it  in  the  Acts  is,  "a 
certain  island."  Able  writers,  who  have  turned  their 
attention  to  the  subject,  have  most  satisfactorily  proved 
that  this  could  be  none  other  than  the  island  of  Malta, 
which  the  youngest  reader  knows  to  be  situated  to  the 
south  of  Sicily.  You  may  picture  to  yourselves  these 
terrible  moments — land  close  at  hand,  but  death  and 
destruction  between  !  The  sea  rolling  mountains  high, 
the  vessel  pitching  all  the  more  heavily  by  the  strain 
from  her  anchors.  The  breakers  were  roaring  ahead — 
the  leak  was  increasing — the  rain  or  sleet  poured  down 
from  a  black  sky.  The  sailors,  fearing  that  the  ship 
would  go  to  pieces  before  daylight,  were  making  an 
unmanly  attempt  to  save  themselves  and  leave  the 
others  to  the  mercy  of  the  storm.  They  lowered  the 
small  boat  from  the  side  of  the  vessel  under  a  false  pre- 
tence, saying  that  another  anchor  would  require  to  be 
let  down  to  steady  the  pitching  ship,  but  that  it  would 
be  needful,  for  this  purpose,  to  convey  it  first  of  all  in 
the  boat  to  a  little  distance.  Paul  detected  their  cow- 
ardly purpose,  and  saw  that,  if  they  did  not  wait  and 
assist,  they  would  all  perish.     "  Except  these  abide  in 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  353 

the  ship,"  said  he,  "  ye  cannot  be  saved."  The  Apostle 
directed  his  remonstrance,  not  to  the  sailors,  but  to  the 
soldiers  and  the  centurion.  It  showed  the  influence 
this  great  man  had  acquired.  They  instantly  decided 
the  matter  by  cutting  the  ropes  by  which  the  small 
boat  was  let  down — it  plunged  into  the  sea,  and  was 
left  to  drift  away  in  the  dark,  and  become  the  sport  ot 
the  breakers. 

The  dawn  of  day  broke  wildly  in  the  eastern  horizon. 
It  was  a  gladsome  sight,  but  only  served  to  disclose  to 
them  more  fearfully  the  reality  of  their  peril.  The 
clouds  of  spray  still  screened  from  view  the  adjoining- 
shore.  Of  many  shipwrecks,  doubtless,  we  all  have 
read  ;  but  there  is  something  of  terrible  interest  surely 
in  the  one  before  us.  Imagine  276  individuals,  wan  with 
terror,  and  faint  from  want  of  food  and  rest,  clustered 
together  on  the  deck,  which  they  expected  to  see  every 
moment  shivered  under  their  feet.  As  the  gray  dawn 
of  morning  is  lighting  dimly  up  these  countenances, 
one  figure  stands  conspicuous  in  the  midst  of  them. 
He  began  that  voyage  a  prisoner — he  is  now  their  ac- 
knowledged director  and  counsellor ;  even  the  heathen 
sailors  and  crew  have  seen  that  a  nobler  spirit  than 
that  of  earth  animates  him.  He  again  raises  his  voice 
in  the  storm — he  reminds  them  that  for  fourteen  days 
they  had  gone  without  food  ;  that  it  was  a  duty  to  sus- 
pend for  a  little  their  labour,  and  partake  of  the  gifts 
which  God  had  given  them — adding,  moreover,  as  a 
reason,  that  a  hair  of  their  head  would  not  perish.  He 
himself  set  the  example,  and  in  the  dim  light  of  that 
eventful  morning,  in  presence  of  the  crew,  he  said 
grace,  asked  the  divine  blessing  on  the  food  of  which 


354  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

he  partook,  and,  in  accordance  with  his  advice  and 
example,  they  partook  also. 

Their  next  occupation  was  to  unburden  the  vessel  of 
the  cargo  of  wheat,  which  not  only  added  to  the  diffi- 
culty of  running  safely  ashore,  but  probably  it  had  also 
been  so  soaked  with  sea- water  as  to  be  rendered  use- 
less. This  done,  the  lingering  shades  of  night  had  all 
dispersed,  and  the  land  appeared. 

On  looking  towards  the  shore,  they  observed  a  small 
creek,  or  bay,  with  a  sandy  beach ;  here  they  were 
anxious,  if  possible,  to  effect  a  landing.  After  making 
necessary  preparations  for- the  hazardous  attempt  (set- 
ting up  the  foresail,  taking  up  the  anchors,  and  loosing 
the  rudder-bands),  in  a  place  where  two  seas  meet, 
they  ran  the  ship  aground.  A  sand  bank,  a  little  in 
front  of  the  shore,  had  been  concealed  by  the  waves ; 
on  this  the  forepart  of  the  vessel  stuck  fast,  but  the 
hinder  part  was  driven  to  pieces  by  the  violence  of  the 
billows.  It  was  quite  evident  now  that  nothing  pos- 
sibly could  save  the  ship, —  a  few  minutes  more,  and  her 
shivered  planks  would  be  strewed  over  the  waters.  In 
this  perilous  moment  the  thought  struck  the  soldiers, 
what  shall  we  do  with  our  prisoners,  Paul  among  the 
number  f  If  they  escape  from  our  hands,  we  shall  be 
responsible  for  their  safety.  Their  first  proposal,  under 
a  stern  sense  of  duty,  was  to  kill  them  at  once ;  and 
there  seems  little  doubt  this  would  have  been  carried 
into  effect,  had  it  not  been  for  the  influence  the  Apostle 
had  gained  over  the  centurion.  It  would  indeed  have 
been  an  unpardonable  act  to  have  dyed  these  raging 
waters  with  the  blood  of  those  who  had  struggled  so 
bravely  in  behalf  of  the  crew;  and  more  especially 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  355 

to  sacrifice  the  life  of  one  whose  presence  and  manly 
bearing  had  so  greatly  contributed  hitherto  to  their 
safety.  The  centurion,  therefore,  "  willing  to  save 
Paul,"  gave  orders  that  all  who  could  swim  should 
plunge  into  the  water,  and  make  the  best  of  their  way 
to  the  shore.  His  advice  was  immediately  obeyed — 
some  swam,  others  on  broken  boards  and  pieces  of  the 
vessel  surmounted  the  angry  breakers,  and  they  got  all 
safe  to  land.* 

"  The  name  of  the  island  was  Melita."  Malta  was 
then  a  thinly-peopled  place,  and  its  inhabitants  were 
of  Phoenician  origin.  The  bay  where  they  landed  was 
a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  the  present  capital,  Valetta, 
and  is  screened  on  the  north  by  the  rocky  island  of 
Salmonetta.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  soundings  at 
the  eastern  entrance  of  the  bay  at  this  day  exactly  corre- 
spond with  those  given  in  the  Acts.  A  number  of  the 
islanders,  who  had  witnessed  the  labouring  of  the 
Alexandrian  corn  ship,  now  crowded  down  to  the  creek 
where  the  faint  and  weary  crew  were  huddled  together, 
drawing  breath,  after  so  long  a  period  of  terrible  tor- 
ture. They  are  called  "  barbarians,"  but  their  natural 
kindness  got  the  better  of  any  baser  passions.  They 
sympathised  with  the  shivering  sufferers  ;  and  in  some 
sheltered  hollow  they  lighted  a  fire  to  restore  warmth. 
We  may  imagine  how  grateful  this  would  be,  when  we 
remember  that  most  of  them  must  have  been  soaked 
and  dripping  with  sea- water.  Some  had  no  clothes  at 
all ;  the  ram  was  pelting  from  above ;  and  all  this 
under  the  chill  and  wintry  winds  of  November.  The 
Apostle  himself  had  been  assisting  in  collecting  sticks 
to  kindle  the  blaze,   and  was  casting  these  into  the 

*  Sec  tho  picture. 


356  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

flames,  when  a  viper  came  "out  of  the  heat,"  and 
fastened  on  his  hand.  The  natives,  when  they  beheld 
this,  immediately  drew  the  conclusion  that  Paul  mast 
be  a  murderer — that,  though  he  had  escaped  the  sea, 
vengeance  still  pursued  him,  and  would  not  suffer  him 
to  live.  How  remarkable,  that  even  among  barbari- 
ans there  is  a  conviction  of  the  certainty  of  vengeance 
overtaking  the  sinner, — nature  confirming  the  Bible 
truth,  that,  "  though  hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked 
shall  not  escape  unpunished!"  The  Apostle  shook  the 
reptile  into  the  flames.  They  expected  every  moment 
to  see  his  body  swelling  with  the  poisonous  sting,  and 
falling  lifeless  to  the  ground ;  but  when  they  saw  that 
he  remained  unharmed,  they  gazed  with  wonder,  and 
pronounced  him  to  be  a  god.  An  objection  has  been 
raised  by  some  to  the  accuracy  of  the  incident  here 
recorded,  that  no  poisonous  vipers  or  snakes  are  now 
found  in  Malta.  The  answer,  however,  is  quite  satis- 
factory. At  the  time  of  St  Luke,  Malta  was  an  un- 
cultivated, unpeopled  island  ;  whereas,  now,  it  is,  with- 
out exception,  for  its  size,  the  most  densely  crowded 
spot  in  Europe  j  and  population  and  civilization  always 
tend  to  rid  an  insular  country  of  dangerous  tribes  of 
animals.  We  have  seen  the  Highlanders  on  a  Scottish 
loch  point  with  pride  to  the  hill  on  which  the  last  wolf 
in  Britain  was  killed.  We  cannot,  at  all  events,  re- 
ceive the  silly  and  superstitious  explanation  which  tra- 
dition gives  us,  and  which  is  believed  in  by  some  of 
the  islanders  to  this  day.  They  think  that  the  same 
kind  of  vipers  still  exist,  but  that  they  ceased  to  be 
poisonous  reptiles  ever  since  the  Apostle  flung  the  one 
which  fastened  on  him  into  the  fire.  They  tell  a  story 
of  an  islander,  from  curiosity,  carrying  one  of  these 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  357 

vipers  into  Sicily,  and  that  it  immediately  became 
poisonous,  but  on  coming  back  again  to  the  charmed 
land  of  Malta,  its  venom  left  it !  * 

But  to  return  to  the  narrative.  We  are  not  told 
what  further  effect  this  miracle  had  upon  the  minds  of 
the  people.  It  was  not  the  only  exertion  of  miraculous 
power  on  the  part  of  the  Apostle.  Near  the  spot 
where  the  vessel  was  wrecked,  Publius,  the  governor 
of  the  island,  had  his  residence  and  possessions.  He 
received  kindly  the  shipwrecked  crew,  and  entertained 
them  for  three  days.  His  humanity  and  pity  did  not 
go  unrewarded.  His  aged  father  was,  at  the  time, 
lying  dangerously  ill  of  fever.  St  Paul  went  and  laid 
his  hands  on  him,  and  prayed,  and  his  recovery 
ensued.  Others  who  had  diseases  heard  of  the  marvel- 
lous cure,  and  came  themselves  to  be  healed.  Before 
the  strangers  departed,  they  were  laden  with  proofs  of 
the  gratitude  of  the  islanders. 

We  cannot  resist  mentioning,  in  passing,  that  there 
is  a  name  we  have  often  had  occasion  to  refer  to  in  the 
notes  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  which  possesses  some  in- 
terest in  connexion  with  Paul's  voyage  and  shipwreck, 
— it  is  that  of  the  Jewish  historian  Josephus,  whose  writ- 
ings tend  to  throw  so  much  valuable  light  on  that  period. 
There  seems,  at  least,  a  probability  that  he  formed  one 
of  the  crew  in  the  Alexandrian  corn-ship ;  and,  if 
so,  that  he  met  the  Apostle,  and  was  witness  of  the  pri- 
soner's noble  bearing  throughout  the  storm.  Without 
offering  any  opinion  on  the  subject,  I  shall  quote  to 
you  the  words  of  the  young  historian  himself,  who,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five,  made  a  voyage  to  Rome,  and 
gives  the  following  account  of  it  : — "At  the  time  when 

*  See  note  in  Stackhouse's  History  of  the  Bible,  vol.  vi.  p.  421. 


358  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

Felix  was  procurator  of  Judea,  there  were  certain 
priests  of  my  acquaintance,  good  and  worthy  persons, 
whom,  on  a  small  and  trifling  occasion,  he  had  put  into 
bonds  and  sent  to  Rome  to  plead  their  cause  before 
Caasar.  For  these  I  was  desirous  to  procure  deliver- 
ance, and  that  especially  because  I  was  informed  that 
they  were  not  unmindful  of  piety  towards  God  even 
under  their  affliction,  but  supported  themselves  with 
figs  and  nuts.  Accordingly,  I  came  to  Rome,  though 
it  was  often  through  great  hazards  by  sea ;  for  our 
ship  being  wrecked  in  the  midst  of  the  Adriatic  Sea, 
we  that  were  in  it  swam  for  our  lives  all  the  night, 
when,  upon  the  first  appearance  of  the  day,  a  ship  of 
Cyrene  appearing  to  us  by  the  providence  of  God,  I 
and  some  others,  eighty  in  all,  going  before  the  rest, 
were  taken  up  into  the  ship.  And  when  I  had  thus 
escaped  and  came  to  Puteoli,  I  became  acquainted 
with  Aliturus,  an  actor  of  plays,  a  Jew  by  birth,  and 
much  beloved  by  Nero,  and,  through  his  interest,  be- 
came known  to  Poppaaa,  Caesar's  wife,  and  took  care, 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  entreat  her  to  procure  that  the 
priests  might  be  set  at  liberty."  We  shall  immedi- 
ately find  this  was  the  same  direction  Paul  and  his 
friends  followed  from  Malta. 

Three  months  had  been  spent  on  the  hospitable 
shores  of  that  island  home,  the  Apostle  doubtless  taking 
every  opportunity,  in  exchange  for  their  temporal,  to  give 
its  people  of  "  spiritual  things."  It  is  unlikely  that  he 
who  would  not  pass  a  night  in  a  dungeon  without  preach- 
ing the  gospel,  could  now  continue  twelve  weeks  with 
his  lips  silent  regarding  the  truth.  Tradition  even  says 
that  Publius  himself  not  only  became  a  Christian,  but 
died  Bishop  of  Malta.     We  know  that,  ever  since  the 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  359 

shipwreck  of  Paul,  the  religion  of  Christ  has  had  a 
footing  in  that  island.  My  young  readers  may  have 
heard  that,  in  1838,  our  former  good  Queen  Adelaide 
visited  Malta,  and  that,  among  the  first  objects  which 
meet  the  eye  of  the  voyager  in  landing,  is  a  Christian 
church,  a  memorial  of  her  piety  and  generosity. 

The  season  of  the  year  when  our  voyagers  could,  with 
favourable  winds,  prosecute  their  route,  had  now  set 
in,  and  Julius  was  desirous,  without  delay,  of  reaching 
the  capital.  Here  the  Alexandrian  ship,  called  the 
"  Castor  and  Pollux,"  had  wintered  at  Malta,  and  was 
again  about  to  sail  for  Italy.  Castor  and  Pollux,  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  add,  were  two  fabled  twin  brothers 
among  the  Roman  deities.  They  were  supposed  to  be 
sons  of  Jupiter,  who,  at  their  death,  were  translated 
to  heaven,  and  formed  into  a  constellation  under  the 
name  of  Gemini  (or  twins).  Sailors  were  considered  to 
be  specially  under  their  protection ;  hence  it  was  a 
favourite  name  for  Roman  vessels,  and  their  image 
was  often  placed  on  the  ship's  prow,  as  was  possibly 
the  case  with  the  one  in  which  the  Apostle  now 
embarks. 

The  voyage  was  completed  in  safety  without  any 
memorable  occurrence.  They  put  in  for  three  days 
into  the  famous  harbour  of  Syracuse  in  Sicily,  one 
hundred  miles  distant  from  Malta.  We  are  not  told 
whether  Paul  landed  ;  but  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  the  permission  granted  him  by  Julius  before, 
would  not  be  refused  him  here,*  and  that  he  preached 
in  this  sea-port  of  the  West  "  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ." 

Syracuse  was,  at  that  time,  a  great  mercantile  city. 

*  Howson,  vol.  ii.  p.  858. 


360  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

It  was  situated  on  a  bold  promontory,  jutting  out  at 
the  east  of  the  island ;  and  the  bay,  in  which  hundreds 
of  ships  rode  at  anchor,  was  screened  on  the  south  by 
the  island  of  Ortygia.  The  Apostle  must,  at  all  events, 
have  gazed  on  the  beautiful  buildings  which  lined  the 
shore,  "  the  fair  walls  of  white  marble "  which  sur- 
rounded the  town ;  also  the  temples  of  Jupiter,  Diana, 
and  Minerva, — the  latter  towering  high  in  the  centre 
of  Ortygia, — these  testifying  too  plainly  to  its  Pagan 
worship.  It  was,  however,  greatly  shorn,  by  this  time, 
of  its  ancient  extent  and  splendour,  although  the  love- 
liness of  the  surrounding  scenery,  both  by  sea  and 
land,  no  changes  could  alter. 

Again  they  set  sail,  and  after  beating  about  for 
some  time,  they  reached,  under  less  favourable  wea- 
ther, the  town  of  Rhegium,  situated  on  the  extreme 
south  of  Italy,  just  before  entering  the  Straits  of  Mes- 
sina. After  one  day  spent  here,  they  availed  themselves 
of  a  fair  wind  from  the  south,  passed  through  the 
Straits,  and  the  favourable  breeze  still  continuing,  they 
were  at  anchor  "next  day"  in  the  harbour  of  Puteoli. 

Puteoli,  now  Pozzuoli,  was  situated  at  the  northern 
curve  of  that  loveliest  of  all  bays,  the  Bay  of  Naples, 
which  extends  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  miles  across  : 
the  northern  promontory  being  called  the  Promontory 
of  Misenum ;  the  southern,  that  of  Minerva.  As  Paul 
and  his  fellow-passengers  passed  the  latter,  the  rocky 
island  of  Capreae,  with  its  white  cliffs  and  rugged  out- 
line, must  have  been  close  at  their  right.  It  seemed 
to  have  been  placed  by  nature  as  a  barrier  to  check  the 
tempest,  and  protect  the  interior  of  the  bay  from  its 
fury.*     But  it  recalled  sadder  thoughts,  as  blackened 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  361 

with  the  dreadful  sins  and  crimes  of  the  Emperor  Tibe- 
rius. He  was  one  of  those  of  whom  the  Apostle  speaks 
as  "  being  past  feeling,  having  given  themselves  over 
to  licentiousness  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greedi- 
ness." Paul  must  have  gazed  with  horror  on  the  pre- 
cipice from  which  the  monster  used  to  hurl,  after  fear- 
ful torture,  the  victims  of  his  cruelty,  while  hired 
ruffians  were  waiting  in  boats  at  the  foot  of  the  rock  to 
despatch  them  with  oars  and  bludgeons.* 

They  have  entered  the  lovely  Bay  of  Naples.  No 
wonder  the  Romans  selected  Venus,  the  fabled  goddess 
of  love  and  beauty,  to  preside  over  the  baths,  foun- 
tains, and  groves  of  this  delicious  shore.  "  A  sky  for 
ever  serene — seas  never  ruffled — perpetual  spring  and 
eternal  verdure,  may  be  supposed  to  have  allured  the 
goddess  to  her  new  aDode."t  The  most  prominent 
object  in  the  landscape  was  Vesuvius, — not,  as  now, 
the  angry  guardian  of  the  scene,  but  a  soft  and  beau- 
tiful mountain  with  vine-clad  sides.  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii,  now  dug  from  their  bed  of  lava  and 
ashes,  were  then  sleeping  in  quiet  grandeur  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain.  But  a  short  time  after  Paul 
gazed  on  them  from  the  "  Castor  and  Pollux,"  they 
were  entombed  in  their  lava  sepulchre  ;  and  the  his- 
torian Josephus  mentions  that,  among  others  who  were 
buried  in  this  living  grave  were  Drusilla  and  her 
little  one,  before  whom  and  her  husband  Felix  the 
Apostle  had  so  recently  reasoned  of  a  still  more  terrible 
"judgment  to  come."  X 

We  may  imagine  the  scene  as  the  Egyptian  corn- vessel 

*  Suetonius's  Life  of  Tiberius. 

t  Eustace's  Classical  Tour,  vol.  i.  p.  374. 

J  Howson  and  Conybeare,  vol.  ii.  p.  360. 


362  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

approached  the  harbour  of  Puteoli.  Crowds  of  people 
would  be  loitering  about  the  docks,  watching  its  ap- 
proach. This  old  seaport  was  situated  on  a  smaller 
but  scarce  less  beautiful  bay  of  blue  water,  running  five 
miles  northward  from  the  larger  one,  sheltered  by  the 
promontory  of  Misenum  from  the  south  wind.  While 
Puteoli  was  built  on  the  eastern  side,  the  well-known 
Baite  (the  great  resort  for  people  of  fashion  at  particu- 
lar seasons  from  Rome)  occupied  the  west.  Puteoli 
looked  across  to  the  elegant  villas  of  this  "Roman 
Brighton," — the  marine  palace  of  Nero  rising  conspicu- 
ously, among  myrtle-trees  and  orange-groves,  to  the 
left. 

Paul  must  have  gazed  upon  those  magnificent 
buildings,  the  remains  of  which  the  modern  traveller 
sees  in  fine  weather  down  in  the  clear  water,  which  has 
now  encroached  upon  the  old  shore ;  or  rather,  they  are 
parts  of  those  dwellings  to  which  Horace  humorously 
refers,  when  he  speaks  of  the  Romans  as  not  being 
content  with  the  space  the  land  gives  them,  they  must 
needs  encroach  on  the  territory  of  the  sea  : — 

"  And  though  the  waves  indignant  roar, 
Forward  you  ui'ge  the  Baian  shore ; 
While  earth's  too  narrow  bounds  in  vain 
Your  guilty  progress  would  restrain."  * 

From  Puteoli,  an  artificial  mole  jutted  out  far  into 
the  sea,  worthy,  from  its  dimensions,  of  belonging  to 
the  port  of  the  world's  capital.  Puteoli  indeed  was  the 
great  "sea-gateway"  to  the  imperial  city.  The  grain- 
waggons,  that  fed  the  many  thousands  within  the  walls 
of  Rome,  passed  through  its  streets ;  others  were  filled 
with  the  finer  sorts  of  wood,  brought  by  vessels  from 

*  See  Eustace's  Classical  Tour,  p.  373. 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  363 

Africa  to  make  furniture  for  the  Roman  houses ;  others 
with  blocks  of  marble  and  granite,  from  African  and 
Asiatic  quarries,  to  be  fashioned  into  baths  or  statuary 
for  the  adornment  of  Roman  palaces.  '  There  are  still 
seventeen  piers  of  the  ancient  mole  remaining,  within 
which  the  merchant-vessels  rode  at  anchor,  and  on 
which  stood  the  lighthouse. 

We  are  told  by  Seneca,  that  when  an  Alexandrian 
corn-ship  hove  in  sight,  they  were,  unlike  other  vessels, 
privileged  to  enter  the  bay  in  full  sail;  all  others  were 
compelled  to  lower  their  topsail.  When  the  "  Castor 
and  Pollux,"  therefore,  was  seen  entering  with  her  sails 
fully  spread  to  the  breeze,  we  may  imagine  the  crowd 
at  the  pier  assembling  to  receive  her,  and  see  her  cargo 
and  crew  disembarked.  We  may  picture  to  ourselves 
the  Great  Apostle  standing  on  the  deck  of  the  vessel,  as 
the  shores  of  illustrious  Italy  first  opened  to  him  !  In 
entering  the  Piraeus  at  Athens,  he  had  felt  himself  going 
among  the  world's  sages  and  philosophers ;  here,  it  was 
amid  the  lavish  opulence  and  splendour  of  the  Mistress 
of  Kingdoms.  The  power  and  wealth  of  Rome  glit- 
tered around  that  beautiful  bay.  The  first  object  pro- 
bably his  eye  rested  on,  after  passing  the  promontory 
of  Misenum,  wras  the  Roman  navy  riding  at  anchor, — 
next,  the  palace  of  Baulos^  which  we  have  just  men- 
tioned,— then  villa  on  villa  at  Bai?e.  If  the  day  was 
calm,  hundreds  of  pleasure-boats  and  yachts  would  be 
studding  the  bay,  with  their  white  sails  and  gaily- 
coloured  pennons.  At  last,  entering  the  harbour  of 
Puteoli,  amid  the  clattering  of  ship-hammers  and  the 
heavy  roll  of  laden  waggons,  the  busy  hum  of  ten  thou- 
sand voices  in  the  Latin  tongue  intimated  that  they 
were  nearing  one  of  the  two  "  Liverpools  of  Italy,"  of 


364  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

■which  Ostia,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  was  the  other. 
Of  the  two,  however,  Puteoli  was  the  more  important ; 
it  admitted  to  its  port  vessels  of  dimensions  of  which 
Ostia  could  not  boast.* 

Josephus  informs  us,  that  from  the  connexion  of  its 
trade  with  Alexandria  and  the  surrounding  eastern 
countries,  there  were  many  Jews  residing  at  Puteoli. 
The  Great  Apostle  found  also  Christian  disciples. 
They  had  been  long  anxiously  expecting  to  see  his 
face ;  now  their  fondest  wishes  were  gratified.  He 
came,  indeed,  "  bearing  in  his  body  the  marks  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."  He  was  not  then  the  bold  and  vigorous 
Roman  citizen  who  had  stood,  a  few  years  before,  on 
Mars'  Hill  among  Grecian  sages;  he  was  now  a  pri- 
soner chained  to  a  soldier's  arm,  wan  and  weary  after 
a  voyage  chequered  with  so  many  disasters ;  but  he  was 
still  "strong"  as  ever  "in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power 
of  His  might;"  and  though  moral  storms,  more  fearful 
far  than  what  he  had  undergone  in  the  Sea  of  Adria, 
might  be  in  reserve  fcfr  him,  he  could  look  calm  and 
undismayed,  amid  them  all,  towards  the  better  haven 
above,  and  feel  that  that  God,  who  had  made  good  His 
promise  in  the  one,  would  be  equally  faithful  regarding 
the  other. 

It  was  indeed  a  memorable  day,  in  the  annals  of  the 
infant  Church,  which  brought  its  great  ambassador  to 
the  shores  of  imperial  Italy — to  the  very  bay,  also, 
which  was  fresh  with  the  footprints  of  Augustus  and 
Cicero,  Horace,  Virgil,  and  Maecenas.  The  harbour  of 
Puteoli  had,  250  years  before  the  time  of  Paul,  wit- 
nessed an  imposing  spectacle  in  the  landing  of  the  em- 
bassy from  Carthage  at  the  close  of  the  second  Punic 

*  See  Howson,  Lewin,  and  Olshausen. 


THE  SHIPWRECK.  3G-3 

war,  to  sue  for  peace  at  the  gates  of  the  capital;  but 
there  was  a  truer  moral  grandeur  in  the  arrival  of  this 
poor  Voyager,  whose  errand,  from  a  mightier  than 
earthly  court,  was,  not  to  sue  for  peace,  but  to  pro- 
claim, in  the  name  of  the  King  of  kings,  the  only  true 
peace  for  men  and  for  nations— "  peace  through  the 
blood  of  the  Cross." 

No  sooner  did  he  arrive,  than  tidings  were  sent  of 
the  event  to  the  brethren  in  Rome.  The  Puteoli 
Christians  requested  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  re- 
main a  few  days  with  them.  Julius,  who  owed,  in 
common  with  all  the  crew,  such  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
the  prisoner,  consented. 

We  shall  close  this  chapter,  leaving  the  Apostle  to 
enjoy  this  short  while  of  quiet  in  this  bustling  city, 
before  setting  out  on  the  last  stage  of  his  journey  to 
the  world's  great  capital. 


CHAPTER  XXL 


find  in  Home. 


"  Jesus !  avenger  of  our  fall, 
Thou  faithful  lover  above  all 
The  cross  has  ever  borne ! 
0  tell  me— life  is  in  Thy  voice — 
How  much  afflictions  were  Thy  choice, 
And  sloth  and  ease  Thy  scorn? 

Thy  choice  and  mine  shall  be  the  same, 
Inspirer  of  that  holy  flame, 

Which  must  for  ever  blaze ! 
To  take  the  cross  and  follow  Thee, 
Where  love  and  duty  lead,  shall  be 

My  portion  and  my  praise." 

COWPER. 

"  The  Apostle  prisoner;  but,  though  a  prisoner,  an  Apostle.  .  .  • 
A  spiritual  Atlas — Paul  carries  the  whole  heathen  world  upon  bis 
shoulders.  That  Roman  empire,  the  most  powerful  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  which  required  seven  ages  to  be  established,  this  man  takes 
only  a  quarter  of  an  age  to  regenerate." — Monod. 


hat  a  change  of  scene  now  waited  the  Apostle ! 

All  at  once,  from  the  dreary  experiences  of  his 
sea- voyage,  he  found  himself  travelling,  under  the  escort 
of  soldiers,  along  one  of  the  great  public  highways 
leading  to  the  capital. 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  particular  road 
was  selected.  There  was  one  that  led  in  a  northern 
direction  by  Capua ;  but  it  is  more  probable  they 
adopted  the  route  along  the  coast,  as  the  most  direct, 
by  Vulturnum  and  Sinuessa  to  Minturnse.  In  either 
case,  however,  the  little  band  would  be  treading  the 
famous  Appian  Way,  which  still  remains,  like  other 
monuments  of  antiquity.  It  is  from  13  to  14  feet 
broad,  having  a  hewn  foundation,  with  regularly-formed 
stones  above,  smooth  and  square,  fitting  in  to  one  an- 
other, and  many  of  which,  after  2000  years,  are  com- 


■j6S  the  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

paratively  little  worn,*  As  in  our  modern  turnpikes, 
milestones  were  set  up  on  this  great  highway  every 
twenty  miles,  where  were  erected  also  inns  or  taverns 
for  the  baiting  of  horses  and  mules,  and  the  accommo- 
dation of  travellers. t  Many  objects  of  interest  must 
have  passed  before  the  Apostle's  eye.  The  vine-clad 
plains  of  fertile  Campania ;  the  villas  and  terraces  of 
beautiful  Formise,  where  the  illustrious  Cicero  had 
his  favourite  retreat ;  the  walls,  now  seen  scattered 
over  the  fields,  and  half  covered  with  vines,  olives,  and 
hedges,  must  then  have  been  entire,  and  full  of  the 
memory  of  the  great  orator.  The  road  continued 
thence  through  the  narrow  passes  of  the  Ccecuban 
hills,  touching  once  more  the  sea,  where  the  splendid 
villas  and  palaces  of  the  ancient  Auxur  crowned  the 
cliffs  which  towered  above.  Paul  must  have  observed, 
conspicuous  above  the  rest  of  the  buildings,  the  Temple 
of  Jupiter,  standing  on  the  summit  of  the  rock,  and 
looking  over  the  vast  country,  on  every  side  of  which 
he  was  regarded  as  the  protector  and  guardian. 
Crossing  the  mountains  immediately  above  Auxur, 
the  travellers  would  find  themselves  again  in  an  ex- 
tensive level,  stretching  miles  on  miles  in  the  far  dis- 
tance, with  patches  here  and  there  of  luxuriant  pas- 
ture, grazed  on  by  numerous  herds  of  cattle  and 
horses.  Here  were  the  celebated  Pomptine  marshes, 
through  which,  in  the  time  of  the  Apostle,  a  canal  (still 
remaining,  and  called  Cavata)  had  been  formed  by 
Augustus,  mainly  with  the  view  of  draining  the  morass. 
At  its  commencement,  a  few  paces  from  the  road,  there 
was  a  fountain  in  the  midst  of  a  grove,  with  a  temple, 
sacred  to  Feronia,  the  goddess  of  freedom.      One  soli- 

*  Eustace's  Classical  Tour.  i  See  Lewin. 


PAUL  IN  ROME.  369 

tary  ilex,  hanging  over  the  fountain,  is  all  the  modern 
traveller  can  discover  of  the  old  thicket.  The  temple 
has  sunk  into  the  dust,  and  not  even  a  stone  remains. 
Slaves  who  were  about  to  obtain  their  freedom  were 
brought  to  this  shrine ;  they  were  seated  within  on  a 
sacred  chair,  and  on  rising  were  declared  free.  Such 
was  the  form  of  religious  rite  in  obtaining  earthly  free- 
dom. Some  may  have  been  at  the  moment  kneeling 
or  coming  forth  rejoicing  in  the  assurance  that  they 
were  slaves  no  more,  when  the  Apostle  of  a  nobler  spirit- 
ual freedom  was  passing  by.  That  chained  prisoner 
could  have  told  them  of  a  nobler  and  purer  fountain, 
washing  in  which  they  could  be  made  "  free  indeed," 
rejoicing  in  "the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God." 

We  are  not  informed  whether  Julius  and  his  band 
continued  their  journey  on  the  paved  road,  or  in  track- 
boats  dragged  by  mules.  It  is  probable  they  would 
use  the  latter,  which  were  most  commonly  employed ; 
and  if  so,  the  time  of  travelling  would  be  the  same 
as  that  spoken  of  by  other  wayfarers.  Horace,  in 
his  Satires,  gives  a  vivid  description  of  a  night  journey 
along  the  canal.  He  complains  of  the  buzzing  of  gnats, 
the  croaking  of  frogs,  and  the  still  more  vexatious  tar- 
diness of  the  muleteer,  who  took  sixteen  hours  to  a 
distance  of  twenty-seven  miles.  Night  was  the  time, 
as  Strabo  relates,  when  passengers  were  in  the  habit  of 
commencing  their  journey,  because  the  vapours,  con- 
tinually arising  from  the  swamps,  are  less  noxious  then 
than  during  the  heat  of  the  day.*  At  the  end  of  the 
canal,  eighteen  miles  from  Terracina,  and  fifty-one 
miles  from  Rome,  was  a  place  called  Appii  Forum,  filled 
with  low  taverns,  where  the  mules  were  unyoked  after 

Eustace's  Tour,  p.  321. 
2  A 


370  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

a  long  stage.  It  was  called,  probably,  after  the  con- 
sul Appius  Claudius,  who  had  constructed  this  famous 
Aj^pian  Way,  and  to  whose  memory  a  statue  had  been 
erected  in  the  busy  town  which  bore  his  name.*  It 
was  a  well-known  place  of  refreshment  for  travellers 
passing  north  or  south,  and  enjoyed  no  very  favourable 
reputation.  It  was  the  noted  resort,  in  that  age,  of  what 
we  may  call  the  "  swell  mob  "  of  the  Italian  London. 
Thieves,  pickpockets,  and  pedlars  had  always  a  promis- 
ing trade  amid  its  bustle  and  confusion,  t 

In  the  dense  and  busy  crowd  of  idlers  and  traffickers 
there,  we  are  led  to  wonder  if  Paul  would  meet  one 
friend  to  cheer  his  drooping  spirit  1  Strange  to  say,  in 
that  unlikeliest  of  places,  Christian  friends  discover  him, 
and  amid  the  rude  voices  and  jostling  of  the  multitude, 
the  disciples  of  a  crucified  Jesus  embrace  one  another ! 
The  Christians  from  Rome  had  heard  from  their  breth- 
ren at  Puteoli  of  the  Apostle's  arrival.  They  had  come 
down  to  this  meeting-place,  fifty-one  miles  from  the 
capital,  to  welcome  him.  They  might  probably  have 
gone  even  further  \  but  not  knowing  whether  he  would 
travel  by  the  road  or  the  canal,  they  waited  at  the 
common  terminus  of  both,  Appii  Forum. 

Ten  miles  farther  on,  at  a  place  called  "  The  Three 
Taverns,"  %  a  second  band  of  Christian  friends  met  him 
— perhaps  the  older  and  more  infirm,  who  had  tarried 
behind  their  more  robust  and  younger  brethren.  The 
spirit  of  the  Aged  Apostle  -revived.     He  had  for  long 

*  Calmet.  t  See  Horace  Sat.,  v.  3. 

%  In  the  time  of  Constantine  we  find  that  the  Three  Taverns  had  be- 
come the  seat  of  a  bishop.  That  emperor  appointed  nineteen  bishops 
throughout  his  dominions,  to  settle  the  controversy  between  Donatus  and 
Ctecilianus,  and  among  these  we  find  the  name  of  Felix  a  Tribus  Tabernis 
(Felix  from  "The  Three  Taverns"). — Hammond's  Annolatio/is. 


PAUL  IN  HOME.  371 

been  accustomed  to  nothing  but  a  prison  life  ;  for  two 
years  frowns  more  than  smiles  had  been  familiar  to 
him  ]  but  prisoner  though  still  he  was,  he  had  much 
of  the  aspect  of  a  hero  returning  in  triumph.  Never 
did  a  nobler  champion  tread  the  Appian  Way,  nor  one 
more  truly  entitled  to  the  term  of  "  Great."  There  is 
a  world  of  touching  meaning  in  Luke's  short  statement, 
"  When  Paul  saw  the  brethren,  he  thanked  God,  and 
took  courage."  His  sensitive  heart  was  deeply  touched 
by  the  kindness  of  those  who,  in  a  strange  land,  thus 
welcomed  him.  He  was  doubtless  cheered  also  by  see- 
ing the  liberty  they  appeared  to  enjoy.  Seventeen 
miles  farther  brought  him  to  the  base  of  the  Alban  hills. 
These  separated  the  plains  we  have  just  spoken  of 
from  the  Campagna  of  Rome.  Here  he  would  pass 
through  the  lovely  valley  of  Aricia,  and  see  probably 
the  same  dark  background  spoken  of  by  modern  tra- 
vellers, "  formed  by  the  groves  and  evergreen  forests 
that  clothe  the  higher  regions  of  the  mountains."  * 
Gay  equipages  would  be  increasing  on  his  view,  and 
crowded  villas  and  gardens  studding  the  slopes  of  the 
Alban  mount.  After  two  other  gentle  elevations,  he 
would  get  his  first  glimpse  of  the  Great  Capital  of  the 
world,  with  its  two  millions  of  human  beings  !  Perhaps 
he  saw  it  first  at  the  hour  the  poet  describes — 

"  Tis  sunset  on  the  Palatine.     A  flood 
Of  living  glory  wraps  the  Sabine  hills, 
And  o'er  the  rough  and  serrate  Apennines 
Floats  like  a  burning  mantle." 

What  his  impressions  were  when  its  domes  and 
columns  rose  before  him,  we  cannot  say.  His  feelings 
regarding  it  must,  at  least,  have  been  very  different 

*  Eustace. 


372  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

from  those  recorded  of  the  St  Paul  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  whom  we  have  more  than  once  already  com- 
pared with  our  Apostle.  To  the  former,  with  all  its 
glory  and  grandeur,  as  mistress  of  the  nations,  Rome 
was  a  heathen  city  in  the  saddest  sense,  full  of  dreadful 
vice,  her  boasted  virtues  only  what  an  old  writer  calls 
"  splendid  «ins."  When  the  Saxon  monk,  on  the 
other  hand,  first  saw  the  city  of  the  Tiber,  the  chains 
of  superstition  were  still  binding  him.  He  was  yet 
a  devoted  son  of  the  Papal  Church,  his  eyes  closed  to 
those  enormous  evils  which  he  was  yet  to  expose 
before  Christendom.  Eome,  therefore,  was  still  to  him 
what  Jerusalem  was  to  the  child  of  Abraham.  It  was 
the  mother  of  all  Churches — the  Zion  of  the  gospel  age 
— the  "  city  of  God."  The  historian  of  the  German 
Reformer  thus  describes  Luther's  first  approach  to  it : — 
"  After  a  painful  journey  in  the  beginning  of  summer, 
under  the  burning  sun  of  Italy,  he  approached  the 
seven-hilled  city ;  his  heart  was  stirred,  his  eyes  sought 
the  Queen  of  the  World  and  of  the  Church.  As  soon 
as  he  caught  sight  in  the  distance  of  the  eternal  city 
— the  city  of  St  Peter  and  St  Paul — the  metropolis  of 
Catholicity — he  prostrated  himself  on  the  ground,  ex- 
claiming, '  Holy  Rome,  I  salute  thee  ! ' "  Paul's  excla- 
mation, if  he  had  any,  must  have  been  very  different. 
We  may  well  suppose  it  would  rather  have  been  this, 
"  Unhappy  Rome  !  I  pity  thee  !  but,  in  the  name  of  my 
divine  Lord  and  Master,  I  come  proclaiming  to  thee 
a  freedom  which  all  thy  boasted  glory  knows  nothing 
of!" 

Soon  they  were  in  the  vast  suburbs,  among  villas, 
gardens,  and  tombs.  The  houses  became  denser,  the 
streets  narrower.      At  last  they  come  to  the  Porta 


PAUL  IN  ROME.  373 

Capena,  the  great  arch  through  which  often  and  again 
triumphant  legions  had  marched.  Continuing  their  way- 
through  the  streets,  they  reached  the  Forum,  the  great 
centre  of  interest,  where  the  golden  milestone  stood,  at 
which  the  various  roads,  leading  to  different  parts 
of  Italy,  met.*  Gigantic  buildings  rose  all  around 
it — arches,  colonnades,  temples,  and  statues.  Porticoes 
lined  either  side  ;  under  one  stood,  in  bronze,  the  Latin 
and  Roman  kings,  from  iEneas  down  to  Tarquinius 
Superbus  ;  on  the  other  were  ranged  the  Roman  heroes, 
all  in  triumphal  robes.  In  the  centre  rose  a  colossal 
statue  of  Augustus,  t  How  striking  a  contrast  is  the 
description  of  the  same  scene  by  a  traveller  eighteen 
hundred  years  later,  who,  in  describing  its  "  colonnades 
encumbering  the  pavements  buried  under  their  ruins  " 
— "  shattered  porticoes,  broken  shafts,  and  vast  frag- 
ments of  marble  capitals,  and  cornices  heaped  together," 
concludes  by  saying,  "  A  herdsman  seated  on  a  pedes- 
tal, while  his  oxen  were  drinking  at  the  fountain,  and 
a  few  passengers  moving  at  a  distance  in  different 
directions,  were  the  only  living  beings  that  disturbed 
the  silence  and  solitude  which  reigned  around  I"  J  The 
Capitoline  hill  terminated  the  other  end  of  the  Forum ; 
and  if  we  are  correct  in  describing  the  Apostle's  route, 
it  must  have  now  risen  straight  before  him.  It  had  on 
its  summit  the  parent  temple  of  the  imperial  city.  A 
hundred  steps  led  up  to  the  shrine  of  Jupiter  Tonans. 
It  is  described  as  having  been  "  adorned  with  all  the 
refinements  of  art,  and  blazing  with  the  plunder  of  the 
world.  In  the  centre  of  the  temple,  with  Juno  on  his 
left,  and   Minerva  on  his  right  side,  the    Thunderer 

*  See  Eustace's  Tour,  vol.  ii.  p.  83.  f  Eustace,  vol.  ii.  p.  88. 

X  See  our  picture  of  the  Forum  as  it  now  is,  in  ruins. 


374  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

sat  on  a  throne  of  gold,  grasping  the  lightning  in 
one  hand,  and  in  the  other  wielding  the  sceptre  of  the 
universe."  On  the  Apostle's  left  rose  the  palace  of  the 
Caesars  on  the  Palatine ;  where  was  preserved,  in  the 
midst  of  the  gorgeous  buildings,  the  lowly  cottage 
of  Romulus  thatched  with  reeds.  The  dominion  of 
the  founder  of  Rome  extended  no  further  than  the 
seven  hills.  But  in  the  time  of  Paul,  this  Palatine  hill 
alone  was  found  too  small  for  the  imperial  palace  ;  and 
no  wonder !  when  we  read  of  its  avenues,  triple  porti- 
coes, and  thousand  columns,  extending  for  a  mile  in 
length.  A  flight  of  steps  led  up  from  the  Forum  to 
the  royal  residence.  Sentries  paced  in  front  of  the 
gates,  and  the  palisades  were  crowned  with  laurel,  in 
token  of  victory.  A  temple  of  Apollo  stood  within 
the  royal  precincts,  and  spacious  gardens  stretched 
down  towards  the  circus  behind. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  place  to  which 
Paul  was  conducted  was  the  camp  or  barrack  of  the 
Pretorians, — a  large  square  with  buildings  all  round, 
erected  during  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  outside  the  city 
walls.  The  Pretorian  troops  were  the  picked  favourites 
in  the  Roman  army.  There  were  ten  thousand  of  them 
in  all.  They  were  in  receipt  of  double  pay,  besides 
other  privileges  not  possessed  by  the  rest  of  the  soldiers. 
We  may  imagine,  then,  the  Great  Apostle  conducted 
outside  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  entering  through  strong 
fortifications  into  these  imperial  barracks.  He  and  his 
guard  would  cross  a  deep  ditch,  or  vallum,  which  en- 
closed the  camp,  and  then  by  a  gateway  they  would 
reach  the  interior  of  the  barracks.  His  eye  would  pro- 
bably rest  on  a  large  field  immediately  in  front  for  mi- 
litary exercise,  and  where,  a  few  years  before,  the  Bri- 


PAUL  IN  ROME.  375 

tish  king  Caractacus  had  been  led  in  triumph.  Many- 
prisoners  from  distant  parts  of  the  empire  were  within 
these  same  walls.  He  might  hear  the  clank  of  the 
chain  by  which  they  were  fastened  to  the  attendant 
soldier,  giving  him  intimation  of  what  might  be  wait- 
ing himself !  God,  however,  had  in  his  mercy  ordered 
for  his  servant  a  kindlier  treatment.  Afranius  Burrus 
was  at  this  time  the  Pretorian  Prefect.*  He  was  a 
hardy,  but  noble-minded  Roman,  whom  Tacitus  de- 
scribes as  having  his  one  hand  maimed  with  honourable 
wounds.  To  him  Paul  was  surrendered  by  Julius. 
The  latter,  it  is  evident,  had  mentioned  favourably  to 
the  Roman  Prefect  the  character  and  heroic  spirit  of 
his  prisoner,  and  peculiarly  commended  him  to  his  cle- 
mency. Burrus  was  convinced  that  he  had  been  guilty 
of  no  crime  worthy  of  bonds.  But  as  it  was  needful 
for  him  to  undergo  the  form  of  a  trial,  the  Prefect 
could  not  with  safety  grant  him  his  liberty.  He  so  far 
relaxed,  however,  the  severity  of  imprisonment  by  al- 
lowing him  to  live  in  his  own  hired  lodging  in  the  city, 
with  the  usual  precaution  of  having  a  soldier  by  him, 
to  whom  he  was  chained.  These  soldiers  probably  re- 
lieved one  another.  Who  can  tell  but  that  under  the 
instructions  of  their  prisoner,  their  hardened  spirits  may 
have  learned  to  "  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  to  lay 
hold  of  eternal  life "  1  What  sort  of  an  apartment 
Paul  occupied,  of  course  we  can  form  no  conjecture.  As 
silver  and  gold  he  had  none,  most  probably  the  expense 
of  it  was  defrayed  by  the  "  devout  brethren  "  who  had 
come  to  welcome  him  at  Appii  Forum.  If  so,  they 
would  probably  secure  a  room  of  sufficient  dimensions 
to  form  "  a  church  in  the  house,"  where  they  might 

*  Tacit.  Ann.  xii.  42. 1. 


376  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

meet  often,  and  listen  to  his  heart-stirring  words. 
Here  he  was  left  in  custody,  to  be  tried  in  due 
time  before  the  emperor. 

Nero  was  now  sovereign  of  the  Roman  world.  He 
was  still  but  a  youth  of  twenty-one,  but  his  life  of  guilt 
and  infamy  had  already  begun.  His  beauty,  among 
other  things,  had  proved  a  snare  to  him.  He  delighted 
to  deck  himself  out  in  finery,  and  his  light  glossy 
hair  hung  in  ringlets,  like  a  woman's,  over  his  shoulders. 
His  whole  education  gives  us  a  painful  specimen  of 
the  follies  of  what  was  thought  a  brilliant  age.  His 
early  guardians  and  instructors  were  his  aunt  Lepida, 
a  dancing  master,  and  a  barber  !  and  when,  as  a  mere 
youth,  he  was  exalted  to  the  throne  of  the  world,  the 
frivolity  of  his  early  training  showed  itself  in  public 
exhibitions  in  the  theatre,  where  the  emperor  played 
on  the  harp,  sang,  and  recited  verses  of  his  own, 
amid  thunders  of  applause.  Upon  one  of  these  re- 
hearsals, a  solemn  thanksgiving  to  the  gods  was  de- 
creed, and  still  further  to  flatter  his  vanity,  it  was 
resolved  to  dedicate  a  part  of  the  verses  in  letters  of 
gold  to  Jupiter  Capitolinus; — a  folly  trifling  in  compa- 
rison with  his  own ;  on  the  day  of  the  athletic  games, 
he  shaved  his  beard,  put  the  hair  into  a  box  of  pure 
gold,  enchased  with  precious  stones,  and  consecrated  it 
to  the  same  "  Father  of  gods  and  men  !  "  *  Miserable 
as  all  this  was,  it  would  have  been  well  for  himself  and 
the  world  if  his  puerilities  had  never  gone  further. 
There  is  scarce  the  crime,  however,  that  can  be  named, 
into  which  this  wicked  emperor  did  not  plunge.  He 
had  murdered  many  courtiers  in  cold  blood  ;  and  when 
the  Great  Apostle  arrived  in  Rome,  Octavia,  his  beauti- 

*  Suetouius's  Life  of  Nero,  pp.  347,  349. 


PAUL  IN  ROME.  377 

ful  and  noble-minded  queen,  was  living  in  cruel  exile. 
The  infamous  Poppaea  was  residing  with  him  as  his 
unlawful  wife,  in  his  splendid  Palatine  Palace. 
Shortly  after,  he  not  only  gave  orders  for  Octavia's 
murder,  but  had  her  head  brought  to  Rome,  savagely 
to  witness  it !  A  few  weeks  later,  he  committed  the 
most  enormous  of  his  many  fearful  crimes,  in  the 
assassination  of  his  own  mother.  His  first  purpose  was 
to  loosen  the  rafters  of  her  bed-chamber,  and  to  bury 
her  as  she  was  asleep  under  the  ruins  of  the  ceiling. 
This  failing,  he  next  arranged  to  drown  her  on  her 
way  to  her  villa  on  the  Lucrine  Lake,  when  on  board 
an  ornamental  yacht,  so  contrived  as,  on  a  given 
signal,  to  fall  to  pieces.  This  also  having  failed,  she 
was  despatched  the  same  night  with  daggers  !  "  The 
freedman,  Anicetus,  undertook  the  mission;  and  on 
entering  the  chamber  where  Agrippina  reclined  with 
a  single  female  slave,  and  solitary  lamp,  she  said  to 
him,  '  If  you  bring  a  message  from  my  son,  to  in- 
quire after  my  health,  tell  him  I  am  better;  if 
your  purpose  be  murder,  do  it  quickly  ; '  then  baring 
her  bosom,  with  a  design  of  shortening  her  sufferings, 
or  reproaching  the  parricide,  she  exclaimed,  '  Strike 
here,'  and  was  despatched  with  repeated  wounds."  * 

It  gives  a  mournful  picture  of  his  hardened  levity, 
that  a  short  time  after,  he  was  seen  singing  to  the  guitar, 
and  acting  in  presence  of  crowds  of  Romans,  the  nobler  of 
whom  shed  tears  when  they  saw  the  imperial  honour  so 
tarnished.  When  the  tidings  of  revolt  among  his  sub- 
jects on  one  occasion  came  to  his  ears,  he  threatened  to 
poison  the  whole  senate,  consume  the  city  by  fire,  and  let 
loose  wild  beasts  among  the  people  in  the  streets.     No 

*  Lempriere's  Dictionary. 


378  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

wonder  Paul  afterwards  speaks  of  him  as  a  "  Lion,"  and 
thanks  his  God  who  had  rescued  him  from  his  jaws.* 

Perhaps  never  in  the  history  of  our  race  did  there 
live  at  one  time  two  such  opposite  specimens  of  hu- 
manity as  now  in  the  city  of  Rome — Nero  and  Paul. 
The  one,  the  nominal  master  of  the  world,  but  an  awful 
mixture  of  the  beast  and  the  fiend ;  the  other,  a  "  perse- 
cuted tent-maker,"  but  possessing  a  nature  with  all  that 
was  lofty,  pure,  lovely,  and  of  good  report. 

It  was  then  under  the  reign  of  this  "  bold,  bad  man," 
and  while  some  of  the  scenes  we  have  described  were 
transacting  in  the  palace,  that  our  Great  Apostle  lived 
for  two  years  in  the  capital. t 

There  were  many  Jews  resident  in  Rome  then  as 
now.  They  were  confined,  however,  as  at  this  day,  to 
a  "Jewish  Quarter."  This  was  situated  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Tiber.  Here  they  were  allowed  to  have 
their  own  synagogues,  and  to  collect  their  annual  tri- 
bute of  two  drachmae  on  each  head,  for  the  support  of 
the  temple  treasuiy  in  Jerusalem.  There  were  also, 
as  we  have  seen,  at  present  in  the  imperial  city  not  a 
few  Christians.  Many  of  the  latter,  like  Aquila  and 
Priscilla,  had  been  driven  from  Rome  to  cities  border- 
ing on  the  Mediterranean,  in  consequence  of  the  edict 
of  Claudius.  While  sojourning  in  these  eastern  coun- 
tries, as  I  before  observed,  some  of  them  had  seen  Paul 
personally.  Their  faith  and  devotedness  had  been 
deepened.  They  had  returned  to  the  great  capital 
with  their  minds  much  impressed  by  the  holy  teaching 
they  had  received  from  his  lips.  The  long  list  of 
names  in  the  closing  chapter  of  his  Roman  epistle*  in- 
forms us  how  many  devoted  believers  were  in  the  city 

*  2  Tim.  iv.  17.  t  Lempriere.     See  also  Mr  Lewin,  vol.  ii.  p.  744. 


PAUL  IN  ROMH  379 

of  the  Tiber,  waiting  to  welcome  their  spiritual  father 
and  friend. 

As  was  the  Apostle's  custom  in  other  cities,  lie 
preached  in  Rome  to  the  "  Jews  first."  After  occupy- 
ing for  three  days  his  solitary  room,  he  sent  for  the  prin- 
cipal people  among  the  Israelites  to  have  a  conversation 
with  them.  Probably  he  was  anxious  to  explain  his 
conduct,  and  get  their  feelings  enlisted  on  his  side  be- 
fore they  were  prejudiced  against  him  by  communica- 
tions from  their  brethren  at  a  distance.  We  perhaps 
could  not  have  wondered  if  they  had  been  unprepared 
to  meet  the  Apostle  in  a  kindly  spirit.  The  very  fact 
of  his  having  come  thither,  appealing  to  the  Roman 
Emperor  against  their  own  Sanhedrim,  was,  in  itself, 
enough  to  rouse  their  suspicions  and  prejudices.  When 
"  the  heads  of  the  nation" — the  leading  Jewish  citizens 
— therefore,  arrived  at  his  lodging,  he  endeavoured  at 
first  to  remove  from  their  minds  any  unjust  and  un- 
founded impressions.  He  showed  that  it  was  they,  his 
own  countrymen  at  Jerusalem,  who  had  in  the  first 
instance  done  him  the  cruel  injustice  of  handing  over 
one  of  their  own  nation  to  the  Roman  power.  Even 
the  Roman  Governor  had  been  ready  to  let  him  go, 
but  his  Jewish  enemies  had  refused.  In  these  circum- 
stances, he  could  do  no  otherwise  than  appeal  unto 
Caesar.  He  concludes  by  telling  them  that  his  only 
crime  had  been  preaching  the  great  expectation  given 
to  his  fathers  of  a  coming  Messiah.  "  For  the  hope  of 
Israel,  I  am  bound  with  this  chain." 

They  assured  him,  in  reply,  that  they  had  got  no 
tidings  regarding  him  from  their  countrymen  in  the 
East,  nor  had  they  ever  heard  any  evil  concerning  him. 
His  vessel,  wrecked  as  it  was,  had  evidently  brought 


380  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

its  crew  more  speedily  to  Rome  than  other  ships  which 
had  embarked  at  the  same  time  from  Syria,  and  which 
had  been  kept  back  by  stress  of  weather  during  that 
stormy  winter. 

Although,  however,  the  Jewish  brethren  at  Rome 
had  no  charge  of  a  personal  kind  to  bring  against  Paul, 
it  was  different  about  the  cause  he  was  pleading,  as 
they  added,  that  the  sect  to  which  he  belonged,  called 
"  Christians,"  was  "  everywhere  spoken  against."  * 
There  was  nothing  in  their  reply  to  discourage  the 
Apostle  ;  if  anything,  he  might  conclude  they  were 
disposed  to  hear  him  in  a  more  candid  spirit  than  he 
could  have  expected.  A  day,  therefore,  was  fixed  for 
a  meeting  at  his  own  lodging,  where,  to  all  willing  to 
come,  he  would  unfold  the  great  doctrines  for  which  he 
had  been  called  in  question. 

A  large  body  of  Jews  assembled  at  the  time  speci- 
fied. From  morning  to  evening  the  Apostle  continued 
his  argument,  trying  to  convince  them  from  their  own 
Scriptures  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.  There  was  a 
division  among  the  hearers;  some  (the  honest  portion, 
open  to  conviction)  believed  ;  but  others,  as  is  ever 
the  case,  continued  in  their  bigotry  and  prejudice,  and 
went  away  unbelieving  as  they  came.  Paul  could 
not  suffer  them  to  depart  without  a  word  of  awful 
warning — the  doom  pronounced  against  obstinate  and 
wilful  unbelievers  by  the  Prophet  Isaiah.  "  Go  unto 
this  people,  and  say,  Hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and  shall 
not  understand ;  and  seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  not  per- 
ceive :  for  the  heart  of  this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and 
their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  have  they 
closed  j  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear 

*  Acts  xxviii.  22. 


PAUL  IN  ROME.  381 

with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and 
should  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them.  Be  it 
known  therefore  unto  you,  that  the  salvation  of  God  is 
sent  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  that  they  will  hear  it."  * 

As  the  Apostle  now  commenced  unfolding  that  gos- 
pel to  the  Gentiles  which  his  own  countrymen  in  Rome 
rejected,  the  unbelieving  Jews  began  among  themselves 
an  active  opposition.  He,  however,  remained  for  two 
years  in  his  own  hired  house,  proclaiming  faithfully 
to  all  who  would  hear  regarding  the  kingdom  of  his 
Lord.  The  kindness  of  Burrus,  which  he  experienced 
when  he  first  came,  was  still  continued.  He  was 
spared  the  ignominy  and  discomfort  of  being  shut  up 
with  other  prisoners  in  the  Pretorian  barracks,  but 
was  allowed  to  remain  in  his  own  lodging,  and  to  see 
there  what  friends  he  chose.  It  was  necessary,  however, 
that  the  Roman  law  should  be  enforced  in  his  being: 
strictly  guarded  ;  day  and  night  he  was  chained  by 
the  arm  to  a  Roman  soldier,  but  this  was  his  consola- 
tion and  joy,  that  "  the  Word  of  God  was  not  bound." 
The  effects  of  his  preaching  appear  first  among  the 
Pretorian  guards ; — probably  the  soldiers  who  had  the 
charge  of  him,  carried  back  day  after  day  to  the  camp 
the  tidings  of  the  truth  he  proclaimed.  Though  his 
weapons  were  not  like  theirs,  carnal,  they  proved  to  be 
"  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong- 
holds." When  he  writes  to  his  old  Philippian  friends, 
he  tells  them,  with  a  joyful  heart,  that  his  "  bonds  in 
Christ  are  manifest  in  all  the  palace  and  in  all  other 
places."  t 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  in  passing,  that  probably  to 
Paul's  intercourse  with  Roman  soldiers  at  this  time, 

*  Acts  xxviii.  26-28.  f  Pbil.  i.  13. 


382  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

we  may  trace  the  references  in  his  letters  written 
from  Rome,  to  armour,  and  battle,  and  military  life. 
Both  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  and  the  Epistles  to 
Timothy  were  composed  during  his  Roman  captivity. 
They  are  just  what  we  might  naturally  expect  from  a 
man  living  daily  chained  by  the  wrist  to  a  soldier  of 
the  Imperial  Guard — listening  to  the  clank  of  their 
heavy  armour,  and  hearing  the  sound  of  their  bugles 
in  the  Pretorian  tent.  He  tells  Timothy  to  "  act  the 
part  of  the  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ;"  and  the  Ephe- 
sians have  every  part  of  the  Roman  armour  spiritual- 
ised : — the  "  breastplate  " — the  "  helmet " — the  "  san- 
dals " — the  "  shield  " — the  "  sword" — that  they  might 
be  able  "  to  stand  in  the  evil  day."  * 

But  to  return.  The  tidings  of  the  gospel  reached 
not  merely  the  military  camp,  but  the  imperial  palace. 
Though  wicked  Nero's  heart  remained  untouched,  Paul 
sends  Christian  greetings  from  the  "  saints  in  Caesar's 
household."  Even  before  the  Apostle  reached  Rome, 
some  noble  women  among  the  higher  ranks  had  taken 
up  the  cross  of  Jesus,  amid  the  frowns  and  ridicule  of 
the  "  great  and  mighty."  The  wife  of  the  conqueror 
of  Britain,  Pomponia  Graecina,  was  only  one  of  several 
who  had  embraced  "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus;"  and 
now  that  Paul  had  himself  come  among  them,  we  need 
not  wonder  that  the  good  seed  should  spread.  Among 
other  converts,  the  Roman  martyrology  mentions  Tor- 
pes,  an  officer  of  note;  and  Chrysostom  speaks  of  one  of 
Nero's  cupbearers.t  It  is  even  said,  although  we  have 
only  tradition  for  it,  that  the  aged  philosopher  Seneca, 
the  tutor  of  Nero,  in  his  old  age,  laid  aside  "  philoso- 
phy falsely  so  called,"  for  the  glorious  simplicities  of  the 

*  Eph.  vi.  11  to  end.  t  Cave,  p.  102. 


PAUL  IN  ROME.  383 

faith  of  Jesus.  Seneca  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Bur- 
rus  ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  he  would 
introduce  him  to  one  so  like-minded,  gifted,  and  learned 
as  Paul  of  Tarsus.* 

"The  sacred  historian  tells  us,  that  the  door  of 
Paul's  lodging  was  open  to  every  comer,  and  he  tells 
us  no  more ;  but  curiosity  would  fain  ask  many  an  in- 
teresting question  as  to  the  personages  then  at  Rome. 
What  was  Gallio  about,  who  had  known  Paul  at  Cor- 
inth 1  .  .  .  Under  the  auspices  of  his  brother  Seneca, 
did  he  now  investigate  the  truth?  How  did  Felix 
demean  himself?  did  he  renew  the  intimacy  he  had 
begun  at  Cesarea?  or  had  he  not  the  hardihood  to  look 
in  the  face  the  man  whom  he  knew  to  be  innocent, 
and  ought  to  have  acquitted,  but  had  left  bound  to 
serve  his  own  selfish  purposes?  Where  were  Caracta- 
cus  and  his  family — his  wife,  and  daughter,  and  bro- 
thers, who  had,  a  few  years  before,  been  prisoners  in 
the  Pretorium  ?  Were  they  still  detained  at  Rome  as 
hostages?  and  if  so,  did  a  British  king  ever  have  an 
interview  with  one  of  the  apostles?  Questions  such 
as  these  cannot  be  solved,  and  it  is  idle  to  pursue 
them."t 

At  this  period  of  Paul's  life,  as  detailed  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  the  curtain  falls — the  history  of  Luke 
comes  abruptly  to  a  close.  It  is  from  the  Apostle's 
after-epistles  that  we  are  able  to  get  some  knowledge 
of  his  future  career,  now  that  his  ardent  wish  was  at 
last  fulfilled — "  to  preach  the  gospel  at  Rome  also." 

*  Sea  Lewin,  p.  760.  f  Ibid,  vol.  ii.  p.  762. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


$rismt-fife. 

u  Look  in  and  see  Christ's  chosen  saint 
In  triumph  wear  his  Christ-like  chain! 
Nor  fear  lest  he  should  swerve  or  faint, — 
*  His  life  is  Christ— his  death  is  gain.'" 

Keble. 

"Lord  Jesus,  I  am  weary  in  Thy  work,  but  not  of  Thy  work. 
Let  me  go  and  speak  for  Thee  once  more,  .  .  .  seal  Thy  truth,  and 
then  die." — Whitfield's  Life. 


f 


hen  prisoners  were  brought  to  Rome,  as 
Paul  now  was,  a  long  period  often  elapsed 
before  their  cases  were  finally  tried.  It 
not  only  was  necessary  that  the  accusers 
be  present,  but  time  was  given  them  to 
summon  their  witnesses ;  and  as  these,  in  the  case  of 
the  Apostle,  would  require  to  be  brought  from  such  a 
distance,  it  might  easily  be  shown  that  his  trial  could 
not  well  have  been  concluded  before  the  end  of  two 
years.  This  is  the  period  mentioned  by  Luke  during 
which  he  remained  a  prisoner  in  his  hired  house.  The 
legal  documents  and  papers,  which  were  forwarded  by 
Festus  from  Cesarea,  were  probably  destroyed  at  the 
time  of  the  shipwreck.  Add  to  this,  there  were  always 
such  numbers  of  cases  of  the  same  kind  to  be  heard, 
that  the  delay  was  often  very  long;  the  judges  had 
their  frequent  holidays;  prisoners  were  left  for  weeks 
in  their  chains,  when  the  fagged  and  wearied  lawyers 
and  praetors  were  down  refreshing  themselves  at  the 
2b 


386  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

baths  and  sea-breezes  of  Baise.  Moreover,  Paul's  ac- 
cusers had  no  object  in  hastening  the  trial,  as,  from  the 
private  judgment  which  Festus  had  already  pronounced, 
they  could  have  little  expectation  of  success.  If  they 
desired  anything,  therefore,  it  would  be  delay,  in  the 
hope  of  being  able  to  work  on  the  feelings  or  passions 
of  the  emperor. 

The  Apostle's  own  imprisonment,  as  we  have  said, 
was  not  irksome  or  severe,  and,  doubtless,  "  the  things 
which  happened  to  him,  had  fallen  out  rather  to  the 
furtherance  of  the  gospel."  His  house  was  evidently 
of  considerable  size,  capable  of  containing  the  multi- 
tudes which  nocked  to  hear  him.  The  sympathies  of 
many  must  have  been  called  forth  as  they  saw  the  old 
man,  his  face  wrinkled  with  cares  and  sorrows,  lifting 
the  hand  that  was  chained  to  a  rude  soldier,  and  pro- 
claiming those  truths  for  which  he  suffered,  and  of 
which,  "  nevertheless,  he  was  not  ashamed."  * 

But  it  was  not  his  converts  at  Home  only  to  whom 
he  was  now  of  service;  he  was  the  spiritual  father  of 
many  churches  scattered  in  different  parts  of  the  em- 
pire; and  the  old  and  faithful  friends  who  came  to 
visit  him  in  his  imprisonment,  were  sent  with  letters 
of  comfort  to  all  round  about.  Luke,  Timothy,  Tychi- 
cus,  Demas,  and  Mark,  were  the  bearers,  every  now 
and  then,  to  churches  and  individuals,  of  messages 
and  epistles.  It  is  pleasing  to  hear  of  Mark,  whose 
unfaithfulness  led  to  such  unpleasant  consequences  in 
separating  Paul  from  Barnabas,  again  the  devoted 
friend  and  attendant  of  his  great  spiritual  father. 
Many  of  the  Roman  converts,  too,  began  to  take  an 
active  part  in  proclaiming  the  gospel.     "  Many  of  the 

*  See  Howson  and  Conybeare,  vol.  ii.  pp.  386,  387. 


PRISON-LIFE.  387 

brethren  in  the  Lord,"  he  writes  to  the  Philippians, 
"  waxing  confident  by  my  bonds,  are  much  more  bold 
to  speak  the  Word  without  fear."* 

There  was  another  of  Paul's  many  converts  in  the 
capital,  whose  history  possesses  peculiar  interest,  not 
from  his  wearing  the  livery  of  Caesar's  dependants  or 
courtiers,  but  from  his  being  one  of  those  apparently 
hopeless  castaways  in  the  lowest  scale  of  life,  who  arc 
ever  and  anon  made  the  monuments  and  miracles  of 
grace  : — I  refer  to  Onesimus.  He  was  a  runaway  slave 
from  Asia;  his  master's  name  was  Philemon,  a  rich 
Gentile,  a  Christian,  and  member  of  the  church  of 
Colosse.  Onesimus  had  plundered  him,  and  taken 
refuge  at  Rome.  We  can  well  imagine  the  debasing 
companions  among  whom  this  man's  lot  must  have 
been  cast  in  the  lowest  streets  of  the  capital.  "  Profli- 
gate and  unprincipled  as  we  know  even  the  highest 
and  most  educated  society  to  have  then  been,  what 
must  have  been  its  dregs  and  offal ! "  t  But  what  can- 
not grace  do?  He  was  brought,  we  know  not  how, 
along  with  the  crowd  that  went  day  after  day  to  hear 
the  Great  Apostle.  He  may  not  unlikely  have  seen 
Paul  previously,  through  whose  ministry  his  master 
Philemon  had  been  converted ;  at  all  events,  as  he 
listened  now  to  the  preaching  of  the  Apostle,  he  was 
led  to  feel  his  guilt,  and  to  embrace  Jesus  as  his  only 
Saviour.  The  rude  and  debased  slave  became  possessor 
of  a  liberty  he  in  vain  sought  by  deserting  an  indul- 
gent master.  He  saw  Paul  alone,  told  him  of  his  be- 
haviour to  Philemon,  and  besought  his  intercession  for 
pardon.  The  Apostle  seems  ardently  to  have  loved 
this  penitent  stranger ;  he  saw  that  he  was  fitted  for 

*  Phil.  i.  14.  t  Howson. 


388  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

nobler  duties  than  to  return  again  as  a  slave  to  Co- 
losse,  and  was  desirous  therefore  of  retaining  him  in  the 
service  of  the  gospel  at  Rome.  He  would  not,  however, 
do  his  lawful  master  injustice  by  keeping  him  there, 
without  first  of  all  receiving  the  sanction  of  the  former; 
he  resolved  to  send  Onesimus  immediately  to  Phile- 
mon, with  a  letter  and  ''promissory  note"  for  the  sum  of 
money  of  which  he  had  been  robbed  by  his  slave.  The 
letter  contained  the  intimation  of  his  earnest  wish,  that 
Onesimus  might  be  allowed  to  leave  his  master's  ser- 
vice for  the  good  of  the  Church  at  large.  The  "note" 
referred  to  is  in  the  concluding  part  of  the  letter  (ver. 
18),  "  If  he  hath  wronged  thee,  or  oweth  thee  ought, 
put  that  on  my  account.  7,  Paid,  have  written  it  with 
mine  own  hand,  I  will  repay  it."  The  whole  epistle  itself 
is  a  beautiful  one,  and  though  well  known  to  all  our 
readers,  it  may  be  well  for  them  here  to  peruse  it,  before 
proceeding  further.  It  has  been  universally  admired 
as  a  perfect  specimen  of  kindness,  courtesy,  honourable 
and  delicate  feeling,  and  Christian  love.  "  In  it,"  says 
an  old  writer,  "  are  some  of  the  finest  strokes  of  true 
rhetoric — it  may  be  called  the  polite  epistle.  Such  a  gen- 
teel and  admirable  address  appear  in  every  sentence, 
that  it  alone  might  be  sufficient  to  convince  us  that 
Paul  was  not  that  weak,  visionary,  enthusiastic  man, 
which  the  minute  philosophers  and  little  critics  among 
the  Deists  have  sometimes  represented  him  to  be."  * 
We  may  imagine  the  mingled  feelings  with  which  One- 
simus, when  he  arrived  at  Colosse,  went  to  the  house  of 
his  old  master.  He  might  well  have  trembled  if  he 
had  been  going  back  to  any  other  than  a  Christian.  It 
is,  indeed,  a  beautiful  example  of  the  confidence  one 

*  Benson. 


PKISON-LIFE.  389 

believer  may  place  in  the  forgiving  spirit  of  another ; 
for  "  all  masters  were  looked  upon,  not  only  by  the 
Roman  laws,  but  by  the  laws  of  all  nations,  as  having 
an  unlimited  power  over  slaves ;  so  that,  without  ask- 
ing the  magistrates'  leave,  or  any  public  or  formal  trial, 
they  might  adjudge  them  to  any  work  or  punishment, 
even  to  the  loss  of  life  itself."*  What  effect  the 
Apostle's  letter  produced  we  cannot  tell ;  we  may  rea- 
sonably hope,  however,  that  the  good  Colossian  not 
only  pardoned  his  penitent  slave,  but  granted  him  his 
liberty,  and  that  he  returned  to  Paul,  in  order  to  la- 
bour with  him  as  (shall  we  call  it  1)  the  first  "  city 
missionary"  among  the  degraded  outcasts  in  Rome. 
We  read,  fifty  years  afterwards,  of  one  Onesimus  being 
bishop  of  Ephesus.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  the 
pardoned  and  liberated  slave  of  Colosse  may  thus  have 
become  the  head  of  the  Christian  church  in  the  great 
city  of  Diana ! 

But  it  was  not  a  single  letter  to  a  solitary  Chris- 
tian of  Asia  that  found  its  way,  at  this  time,  from 
Paul's  "  hired  house."  Learned  writers,  from  different 
references  in  these  epistles  themselves,  have  inferred 
that  two  others,  at  least,  were  written  by  him  at  this 
time.t  Epaphras,  the  founder  of  the  church  of  Colosse, 
where  Philemon  was,  had  come  all  the  way  to  Rome  to 
see  Paul  about  the  lamentable  errors  which  were  fast 
creeping  in  among  his  converts.  It  would  appear  that 
some  Alexandrian  Jew  had  taken  up  his  abode  among 
the  Colossians,  and  had  contrived  to  draw  them  sadly 
away  from  the  simplicity  of  their  first  faith.  The 
Apostle,  on  learning  this,  thought  it  right  to  address 
them  without  delay,  warning  them  of  their  danger, 

v  Cave's  Lives  cf  the  Apostles.  t  Neander,  p.  318. 


390  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

entreating  them  to  return  to  the  purity  of  the  true 
gospel,  and  not  to  be  led  away  with  "  enticing  words 
of  philosophy  and  vain  deceit." 

The  other  letter  to  which  I  refer  is  perhaps  the 
richest  and  tenderest  of  all  his  epistles  :  it  is  that 
which  is  called  in  our  Bibles  the  "  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians."  There  seems  strong  reason  to  doubt  whether 
this  epistle  was  written  expressly  for  the  church  at 
Ephesus.  There  are  many  reasons  which  we  shall 
not  now  detail  for  concluding  rather  that  it  was  in- 
tended for  a  number  or  cluster  of  churches,  of  which 
that  of  Ephesus  was  one.  Tychicus  was  about  to  visit 
this  district  in  Asia  Minor;  and  in  consequence  of  Epa- 
phras  having  been  made  prisoner  at  Rome,  along  with 
Paul,  he  had  been  entrusted  with  the  epistle  to  the 
Colossians.  He  and  Onesimus  more  than  probably 
travelled  together.  It  would  naturally  occur  to  the 
Apostle  that  it  might  be  subject  of  great  joy  and  com- 
fort to  the  many  Christians  in  these  regions,  if  he  were 
to  send  by  him  also  a  circular  letter.  It  has  been  sup- 
posed that  a  copy  was  written  out  for  each  church, 
and  that  each  of  these  was  subscribed  in  his  own  hand- 
writing in  the  usual  form,  "  The  salutation  of  me  Paul 
by  my  own  hand."  * 

It  is  supposed  that  these  last  three  letters  were 
written  by  Paul  after  the  first  year  of  his  imprison- 
ment, or  early  the  following  spring.  Tychicus  had 
scarcely  left,  when  the  Philippian  church  sent  a  trusty 
messenger  to  inquire  for  the  welfare  of  the  Apostle, 
and  present  him  with  a  gift  of  money.     This,  we  have 


*  This  supposition,  we  believe,  was  first  suggested  by  Archbishop  Usher, 
and  has  been  very  generally  adopted.  See  the  whole  question  discussed 
in  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical  Literature,  art.  "  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians." 


PRISON-LIFE.  301 

seen,  was  not  the  first  occasion  that  devoted  people 
had  shown  their  liberality.  It  must  have  been  very 
welcome,  doubtless,  to  the  Apostle  at  this  time.  He 
could  not  conveniently  now,  as  formerly,  labour  with 
his  hands  to  minister  to  his  wants.  These  hands  were 
chained ;  perhaps  we  may  add,  that,  though  as  willing, 
they  were  not  so  able  for  hard  toil  as  when  he  held 
them  up  before  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  and  told  them 
they  were  all  he  had  or  wished  to  trust  to.  Epaph- 
roditus  was  the  Philippian  messenger's  name.  On 
reaching  Rome,  he  was  seized  with  a  severe  illness, 
probably  brought  on  by  the  length  and  fatigues  of  the 
journey,  or  it  may  be  from  arriving  at  the  sick  and  un- 
healthy season  of  the  year,  so  well  known  to  this  day 
by  those  who  have  visited  the  "  Eternal  City."  "  He 
was  sick,"  Paul  wrote  immediately  afterwards,  "nigh 
unto  death  \  but  God  had  mercy  on  him,  and  not  on 
him  only,  but  on  me  also,  lest  I  should  have  sorrow 
upon  sorrow."* 

The  devoted  Apostle  met  daily  fresh  encouragement 
in  the  great  capital.  Multitudes  were  added  to  the 
Christian  Church,  and  the  once  despised  doctrines  were 
cordially  embraced.  Strangest  of  all  was  it,  as  we 
have  seen,  that  the  royal  palace  itself  should  have 
become  the  dwelling-place  of  believers  in  Jesus — those 
who  were  slaves  of  the  most  hideous  vice  having  their 
spiritual  fetters  broken,  and  exulting  in  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  made  them  free.  We  have  also  sup- 
posed as  more  than  likely,  that  not  a  few  of  those  rude 
and  barbarous  soldiers,  to  whom  Paul  was  chained, 
were  among  the  number  of  his  spiritual  children.  If 
their  hearts  were  not  as  hard  as  the  iron  mail  that 

*  Phil.  ii.  27. 


392  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

covered  them,  they  could  not  help  being  struck  with 
the  holy  and  peaceful  calm  which  reigned  in  the  house 
and  heart  of  the  Jewish  prisoner : — what  a  contrast  to 
the  guilt  and  brutality  which,  in  the  praetorian  barrack, 
must  have  constantly  met  their  eye  ! 

Our  Apostle  now  lost  one  heathen  friend,  whose 
clemency  had  made  imprisonment  easy — viz.,  Burrus. 
His  successor  was  a  vicious,  profligate  courtier  of 
Nero's.  He  does  not  seem,  however,  to  have  sub- 
jected Paul  to  any  additional  cruelties.  The  Apostle- 
prisoner  had  more  to  dread  from  Nero  and  his  wicked 
wife  Poppasa,  who,  being  herself  a  proselyte  to  Judaism, 
would  doubtless  have  it  in  her  power  to  crush,  by  a  word, 
the  man  who  was  so  hated  by  the  house  of  Israel. 

When  Epaphroditus  had  recovered,  and  was  able  to 
return  home  again  to  Philippi,  Paul  entrusted  him 
with  a  letter  to  the  church  there — The  Epistle  to  the 
Philippians.  Had  the  Apostle  consulted  his  own  feel- 
ings, he  would  doubtless  have  detained  this  good  Phi- 
lippian  in  Rome,  to  cheer  his  own  hours  of  captivity ; 
but  he  saw  not  only  that  it  would  be  desirable  for 
Epaphroditus  to  return  to  his  post  of  duty,  but  that 
his  shattered  frame  required  a  change  from  the  un- 
healthy damps  of  a  Roman  climate.  "  I  have  deemed 
it  necessary,"  he  writes  to  them,  "to  send  to  you 
Epaphroditus,  my  brother  and  companion  in  labour, 
and  fellow-soldier,  but  your  messenger,  and  he  that 
ministered  to  my  wants."  *  From  the  whole  epistle 
we  obtain  a  very  favourable  idea  of  the  character  of 
the  Macedonian  believers.  They  had,  as  yet,  escaped 
the  errors  that  were  creeping  into  other  churches  ;  and, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  words  of  reproof,  to  some 

*  Phil.  ii.  25,  26. 


PRISON-LIFE.  393 

who  were  not  cultivating  humility  and  lowliness  of 
mind  as  they  ought,  the  epistle  is  full  of  joyful  com- 
mendation, and  written  in  the  strain  of  a  father  to  his 
affectionate  children.  When  Epaphroditus  had  re- 
turned to  Philippi,  Tychicus  to  Colosse,  and  Mark  had 
probably  become  the  attendant  of  Peter  in  Asia  Minor, 
the  Apostle's  immediate  personal  friends  were  dimin- 
ished. He  had  probably  still,  however,  Timothy  his 
"  own  son,"  Luke,  and  Aristarchus.  His  own  pro- 
spects seemed  to  look  brighter — a  gleam  before  the 
gathering  storm  !  He  seems  even  to  hint  at  what  his 
plans  would  be  when  set  at  liberty.  His  eyes  were 
turned  westwards  to  the  original  lands  of  the  old  "  Ga- 
latians,"  but  before  accomplishing  such  a  visit,  he 
appears  to  intimate  a  desire,  if  it  were  God's  will,  of 
going  first  to  Lesser  Asia,  and  mentions  to  Philemon 
his  purpose  of  making  his  house  his  home.  He  would, 
doubtless,  often  long  for  release.  He  might  perhaps 
think  with  regret,  "  What  two  important  years  of  my 
life  I  have  spent  in  this  hired  house  !  Might  I  not 
have  been  all  this  time  preaching  the  gospel,  or  build- 
ing up  my  churches  V  Nay,  in  addition  to  the  fruits 
of  his  preaching,  God  had  other  work  for  him  to  do. 
But  for  these  two  years  of  quiet  and  seclusion,  when 
his  mind  and  Christian  experience  were  most  matured, 
we  should  not  now  have  been  in  the  possession  of  those 
precious  epistles,  which  have  been  the  treasure,  not  of 
one  age,  but  of  the  Church  till  the  end  of  time.  This 
is  the  most  likely  period  to  fix  the  date  of  that  valuable 
and  noble  epistle,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which, 
though  considered  by  some  writers  not  to  have  been 
the  work  of  Paul,  has  by  far  the  greatest  amount  of 
evidence  in  its  favour,  as  proceeding  from  no  hand  but 


394  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

his.*  As  we  read  it,  we  may  think  of  its  author  dic- 
tating its  sublime  words  during  the  last  of  the  quiet 
hours  he  passed  in  "  the  solitude  of  a  great  city."  The 
period  of  repose  is  soon  to  be  over.  The  crisis  is 
at  hand.  Is  it  to  issue  in  a  new  lease  of  life  and  call 
of  duty  1  Is  he  yet,  "  as  Paul  the  aged,"  to  be  again 
summoned  to  bear  the  cross  ?  or  is  he  at  once  to  get 
his  crown  1 

*  See  note  to  Stackhouse,  vol.  vi.  p.  497. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


®gt  Closing  %tm. 

"Servant  of  God,  well  clone! 
Rest  from  thy  loved  employ  ; 
The  battle  fought — the  victory  won, 
Enter  thy  Master's  joy." 

"  He  stood  upon  the  brink  of  the  grave,  calm  and  unmoved,  like 
the  conqueror  in  the  Capitol,  waiting  for  the  crown  to  be  placed 
upon  his  brow."— Blunt's  Lectures  on  St  Paul,  vol.  ii.  p.  250. 


e  have  now  come  to  the  last  chapter 
in  the  history  of  the  Great  Apostle. 
We  could  have  wished  that  more 
particulars  had  been  left  to  complete 
the  account  of  so  eventful  and  interesting  a  life;  but 
these  materials  are  very  few.  As  Irenseus  says, 
"  Luke,  at  the  close  of  his  history,  leaves  us  thirsting 
for  more."  Indeed,  we  are  left  very  much  to  fill  up 
in  our  own  minds  how  he  "  finished  his  course  with 
joy."  Why  his  faithful  friend  and  biographer  records 
so  little  regarding  these  concluding  years,  we  cannot 
say.  AVe  have  no  cause,  however,  to  complain.  We 
have  rather  reason  for  gratitude,  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
moved  him  to  transcribe  so  fully  and  faithfully  what 
throws  so  much  light  on  the  infant  Church,  and  the 
doings  of  her  brightest  Luminary. 


398  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

There  is  a  question  which  has  much  divided  learned 
men,  as  to  whether  Paul  was  only  once  or  twice  im- 
prisoned in  Rome.  Some  think  that  his  condemna- 
tion and  death  took  place  immediately  after  the  events 
recorded  in  last  chapter  ;  others,  we  think  with 
better  grounds,  have  supposed  that  he  was  acquitted 
at  this  his  first  trial;  that,  on  being  set  at  liberty,  he 
travelled  to  the  extreme  west  of  the  Roman  empire, 
and  preached  the  gospel  in  Spain ;  also  that  he  visited 
Asia  Minor,  and  other  churches  in  the  East;  and  after 
being  imprisoned  a  second  time  in  Rome,  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  death,  probably  in  the  last  year  of  the  reign 
of  Nero.* 

We  are  left  to  imagine  the  scene  of  Paul's  first  trial 
before  the  emperor.  It  has  been  supposed  to  have 
taken  place  about  March,  61, — the  same  year  when  the 
Roman  arms  in  Britain  received  a  signal  repulse  under 
the  brave  Queen  Boaclicea,  and  our  own  London  was 
burnt  to  ashes  by  the  infuriated  legions  of  Nero.t 
Although  such  causes  as  that  of  the  Apostle  were 
sometimes  heard  by  the  consular-legate,  most  fre- 
quently the  emperor  himself  was  in  the  habit  of  pre- 
siding at  them  in  his  imperial  palace  on  the  Palatine 
Hill.  We  may  think,  then,  of  Nero,  the  monarch  of 
the  civilised  world,  himself  a  brutalised  heathen,  seated 
at  the  end  of  a  gorgeous  hall,  "  lined  with  the  precious 
marbles  of  Egypt,  and  of  Lybia,"J  in  raiment  of  pur- 
ple and  gold,  surrounded  with  his  twelve  lictors,  cour- 
tiers, and  assessors.     His  face  at  one  time  had  been 

*  Much  diversity  of  opinion  exists  about  the  probable  direction  of  Paul's 
concluding  journeyings,  (and  all  must  be  conjecture  where  there  is  nothing 
but  brief  hints  in  his  epistles  to  guide  us.)  We  have  adhered  to  the  order 
adopted  by  Messrs  Howson  and  Conybeare  in  their  closing  chapters. 

t  Lewin.  \  Howson  and  Conybeare. 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  399 

handsome,  but  it  now  bore  the  marks  of  youthful  pro- 
fligacy. Suetonius  adds,  that  the  size  of  his  body  was 
considerable,  his  neck  thick,  and  his  eyes  grey  and 
dull.  Before  him  stood,  calm  and  unmoved,  confident 
in  his  own  integrity,  and  in  the  grace  and  strength  of 
his  God,  the  Jewish  prisoner.  He  was  loaded  with 
fetters;  but,  captive  as  he  was,  with  the  almost  cer- 
tainty of  a  cruel  death  before  him,  he  would  not  for 
worlds  change  places  with  the  miserable  being  before 
him,  whose  hands  were  already,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  or  thirty,  so  deeply  stained  with  blood.  Paul  might 
well  have  trembled  in  his  presence ;  but  he  knew  that 
there  was  One  at  his  side  "  mightier  than  the  mighti- 
est;" and  even  should  the  ravenous  "lion"  be  permitted 
to  tear  him  in  pieces,  it  would  only  be  the  sooner  to 
receive  his  heavenly  crown. 

The  witnesses  would  be  called.  Doubtless  many  had 
by  this  time  been  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  East 
where  P_uil  had  sought  to  proclaim  the  gospel.  The 
Sanhedrim,  also,  would  not  be  idle.  It  is  remarkable 
that  Josephus,  in  his  History,  mentions  that  the  high 
priest  at  Jerusalem,  Ishmael,  and  many  of  the  leading 
Jews,  were  at  this  time  in  Rome.  He  speaks  of  the 
main  object  of  their  journey  being  with  reference  to 
the  building  of  a  wall  in  the  temple.  May  it  not  have 
more  likely  been,  that  they  had  in  view  the  ruin  of  St 
Paul?*  These  collected  Jews  would  doubtless  have 
some  chosen  Roman  orator  hired  to  plead  their  cause ; 
nor  would  it  have  been  difficult  to  make  out  a  strong 
case  against  the  Apostle.  They  might  have  urged  be- 
fore Nero,  that  the  prisoner  was  not  only  a  ringleader 
of  a  new  sect,  but  a  subverter  of  his  own  power;  and 

*  Lewia.    Josephus'  Antiq.  book  xx.  chap.  8. 


400  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

that  this  Jesus  whom  he  preached,  aspired  to  the  tem- 
poral sovereignty  of  Judea,  and  of  the  world. 

We  may  imagine  the  Apostle  rising  calmly  in  the 
midst  of  the  court  to  make  his  reply.  Many  of  his 
judges  would  understand  Greek,  and  in  this  language 
probably  he  would  address  them.  What  he  said,  we 
know  not.  There  may  have  been  solemn  things  spoken 
home  to  their  consciences.  Like  Felix,  some  may  have 
trembled;  but  we  fear,  at  least,  that  the  monarch,  on 
whom  he  kept  his  eye,  only  despised,  and  perished! 
So  far  as  we  could  judge,  everything  combined  to  make 
Paul's  a  hopeless  case.  His  enemies  were  many  and 
powerful,  their  pleas  were  strong  in  such  an  ear  as 
Nero's,  and,  above  all,  the  influence  exercised  by  his 
base  queen,  over  whom  Ishmael  had  great  power,  must 
have  combined  to  seal  the  Apostle's  fate.  Moreover, 
Nero  did  not  require  to  abide,  as  in  our  courts  of  law, 
by  the  opinion  of  the  jury;  he  could  pronounce  what 
sentence  he  chose.  His  partiality  for  cruelty  was  too 
well  known  to  give  such  a  prisoner  much  hope  of 
mercy;  more  especially  when  we  think  how  the  holy 
life  and  holy  words  of  the  Apostle  must  have  rebuked 
the  crimes  of  the  judge.  But  He  who  turns  the  hearts 
of  kings,  and  queens,  and  rulers,  "  even  as  he  turns  the 
rivers  of  waters,"  did,  by  His  overruling  providence, 
avert  the  threatened  stroke.  Paul  once  more  is  liber- 
ated— he  is  dismissed  from  the  bar,  and  is  free  to  preach 
the  gospel  where  he  pleases  ! 

New  thoughts  of  missionary  zeal  begin  to  fill  his 
aged  bosom.  His  first  desire  is  to  go  to  the  East,  and 
revisit  some  of  the  churches  there,  which  seemed  to 
stand  in  need  of  his  presence  and  counsel. 

There  were  many  of  these  which  he  had  never  yet 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  401 

seen;  and  from  the  wish  he  expresses  in  his  letter, 
both  to  Philemon  and  the  Philippians,  we  may  well  be- 
lieve he  would  turn  his  steps  immediately  towards  Ma- 
cedonia and  the  churches  in  Asia  Minor.  How  joyful 
would  be  his  meeting  with  his  Philippian  friends! 
But  it  must  only  have  been  a  passing  "  salutation,"  as 
he  was  anxious  to  hasten  to  other  places  still  farther 
east.  What  he  did  visit,  we  know  not.  Possibly  he 
would  direct  his  course  for  'the  first  time  to  Co- 
losse.  We  may  picture  his  probable  interview  with 
the  wealthy  but  Christian-hearted  Philemon.  Who 
can  tell  but  Onesimus  his  old  slave  may  have  joined 
them,  and,  under  the  same  roof,  three,  so  different 
from  one  another,  may  have  rejoiced  now  in  being 
all  "  one  in  Christ  Jesus ! "  From  Colosse,  on  his 
way  to  Ephesus,  it  is  more  than  likely  he  would  pause 
at  Laodicea  and  Hierapolis. 

The  year  following  his  acquittal  at  Eome,  he  made 
out  his  long-thought-of  journey  to  Spain.  Clemens, 
his  own  contemporary  and  fellow-labourer,  tells  us 
that  "  he  went  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  west."  In 
going  thither,  it  is  most  probable  he  would  avoid 
the  "perils  of  false  brethren,"  by  committing  himself 
again  to  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  perse- 
cutions of  Nero  were  at  their  height,  and  he  would 
feel  that  it  were  "  better  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
God  than  into  the  hands  of  men."  Many  vessels 
were  continually  plying  between  the  east  and  the  mo- 
dern Marseilles,  and  from  thence  he  would  easily  find 
his  way  by  ship  to  Spain.  How  long  he  remained  in 
the  Peninsula  we  cannot  even  guess  ;  most  probably 
two  years  were  spent  there  preaching  the  gospel  of  his 
Lord. 


402  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Some,  indeed,  have  thought  that  the  Apostle  went 
further  west  still,  and  that  the  shores  of  our  own 
island,  and  even  the  streets  of  our  own  London,  were 
trodden  by  the  "  footsteps  of  St  Paul !"  Early  writers 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  speak  of  such  a  visit. 
However  pleasing  it  would  be  for  us  to  think  of  this  as 
the  case,  of  course  it  is  a  mere  matter  of  conjecture. 
Claudia,  whose  name  is  mentioned  by  the  Apostle  in 
2  Tim.  iv.  21,  has  been  supposed  by  some  to  have  been 
the  daughter  of  Caractacus,  King  of  Britain,  who  was 
brought  prisoner  to  Rome  in  a.  d.  51,  and  who,  with 
her  grandfather  Bran,  was  converted  to  Christianity. 
We  have  already  mentioned  that  Pomponia  Grsecina, 
the  wife  of  Aulus  Plautius,  the  first  Roman  governor 
of  Britain,  was  accused  of  having  become  a  convert 
to  a  "  strange  foreign  superstition,"  in  other  words,  of 
being  a  Christian,  and  probably  through  her  instru- 
mentality the  daughter  of  the  British  king  and  others 
were  led  to  receive  the  truth.  It  is  also  said  that  the 
aged  Briton  Bran  afterwards  returned  to  his  native 
shores,  along  with  other  converts,  and  that  by  them 
the  religion  of  Jesus  was  taught  to  the  Pagan  sa- 
vages. There  is  much,  however,  in  this  of  tradition, 
and  which  it  becomes  us  to  receive  with  caution.* 

If  the  dates  we  have  already  given  be  at  all  correct, 
we  may  imagine  it  was  in  the  year  66  that  our  Apostle 
again  returned  from  the  west,  and  sailed  back  to  Eph- 
esus.  It  was  a  journey,  or  rather  visit  of  sorrow.  He 
found  (according  to  the  fears  he  had  many  years  before 
expressed  to  the  elders  who  met  him  at  Miletus),  that 
wolves  had  entered  among  his  sheep.  False  teachers, 
among   whom   were    Hymeneus   and   Philetus,    were 

*  See  Cave ;  and  Apostles  (Tract  Society). 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  -403 

scattering  tho  seeds  of  deadly  error,  and  multitudes  of 
his  converts  had  thereby  been  led  astray. 

The  epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus  were  written 
about  this  time.  From  them  we  gather  that  his  pre- 
sent visit  to  the  east  was  a  short  one.  His  spirit 
seems  to  nave  been  greatly  bowed  down  by  the  errors 
and  heresies  which  had  sprung  up  like  noxious  weeds  in 
a  garden  which  once  promised  so  well.  We  may  believe 
he  had  lost  none  of  his  ardour  and  zeal  in  his  Hea- 
venly Master's  cause,  but  his  strength  was  not  so  able, 
at  the  age  of  nearly  seventy,  to  cope  with  the  hard- 
ships he  once  could  encounter.  We  may  feel  assured, 
had  it  been  so,  he  would  not  have  employed  others  to 
grapple  with  these  errors,  but  would  have  been  on  the 
field  himself  with  the  same  "  sword  of  the  Spirit "  he 
had  so  often  wielded  in  the  battles  of  the  Lord. 

There  is  something  touching  in  the  message  which 
he  sends  during  these  later  years  of  his  life  to  bring 
back  "  the  cloak  that  he  had  left  behind  him  at  Troas."  * 
It  had  been  his  companion,  perhaps,  amid  the  cutting 
winds  of  the  Pisidian  mountains,  and  now,  again,  in 
the  prospect  either  of  a  new  sea-voyage,  or  the  sadder 
one  of  a  damp  cell,  he  felt  his  aged  frame  could  not 
dispense  so  easily  as  once  it  might  with  these  aids  to 
artificial  warmth.  He  had  left  it  in  summer  at  Troas, 
with  the  prospect  of  getting  it  again  on  a  return,  which 
he  never  accomplished.  What  the  books  and  parch- 
ments were  he  speaks  of  along  with  the  cloak,  we  are 
not  told  ;  probably  copies  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets, 
with,  perhaps,  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke, 
which  were  the  only  two  now  written.  The  parch- 
ments   may   have   been   copies   of  his   own    epistles, 

*  2  Tim.  iv.  13. 


404  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

with,   perhaps,  "  the  diploma  of  his   Roman  citizen- 


Leaving  Timothy  to  contend  with  the  errors  of  the 
false  teachers  I  have  spoken  of  at  Ephesns,  Panl  seems 
to  have  gone  first  to  Macedonia,  and  then  to  Crete.  If 
he  returned  to  Ephesus,  it  was  to  leave  it  finally  for 
Rome,  taking  Corinth  on  his  way.  It  was  when  at 
Macedonia  he  wrote  his  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,  in 
which  he  gives  him  various  directions  about  the 
government  of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  denounces  and 
opposes  the  heretical  teachers  and  doctrines,  and  adds 
many  faithful  counsels  to  his  "own  son"  individually, 
and  to  ministers  of  Christ  in  every  age. 

Soon  after  writing  this  epistle,  we  find  the  Apostle 
in  the  island  of  Crete.  It  is  more  than  pro- 
bable the  gospel  had  been  introduced  there  before 
Paul's  visit.  This  we  are  given  to  infer  from  the 
Epistle  to  Titus.  Moreover,  you  will  remember,  at  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  Cretans  are  spoken  of  among  the 
number  of  those  who  received  the  gift  of  tongues,  and 
heard  Peter  preach  the  gospel.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
some  of  these  may  have  carried  the  glad  tidings  from 
Jerusalem  to  their  own  island.  The  Apostle  visited 
them  now  along  with  Titus,  probably  remaining  for 
some  months,  and  leaving  this  companion  of  his  mis- 
sionary tour  behind  him  on  his  departure.  Paul 
wrote  to  him  afterwards  (as  we  have  just  found  him 
doing  to  Timothy)  a  letter  of  directions  about  the 
government  of  the  church  in  that  island ;  also,  in  order 
to  silence  some  opposition  which  had  arisen  to  his 
teaching.  He  seems  to  have  sent  it  from  Ephesus 
just  when  about  to  leave  that  city  for  the  west.      In 

*  Lewin. 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  405 

reading  the  epistle,  you  will  see  that  Paul  asks  Titus 
to  come  and  join  him  at  Nicopolis,  where  he  was  to 
"  spend  the  winter."  This  town  in  Epirus,  in  Greece, 
was  built  by  Augustus  in  memory  of  the  famous  battle 
of  Aetium,  which  he  gained  over  Mark  Antony,  on 
2d  September,  b.  c.  31.  It  was  situated  on  a  narrow 
isthmus ;  a  temple  to  Apollo  marked  the  spot  where  the 
tent  of  Augustus  had  been  pitched,  and  every  five  years 
famous  games  were  celebrated  close  by.  It  is  notable 
to  us,  as  the  last  scene  of  Paul's  public  labours  before 
his  final  trial.  It  has  been  supposed,  indeed,  that  it 
was  here  he  was  arrested,  and  sent  again  to  imprison- 
ment at  Rome — arriving  there  very  possibly  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year.* 

There  is  surely  something  touching  about  this  jour- 
ney !  The  old  man — with  furrowed  brow  and  feeble 
steps — with  few  friends  to  cheer  him,  and  some  of  those 
few  deserting  him  in  the  hour  of  danger  : — Demas  left 
him;  Crescens  "departed  to  Galatia;"  even  Titus 
went  (though  this  may  have  been  at  Paul's  request)  to 
Dalmatia.  One,  at  least,  however,  we  know  remained 
faithful  to  the  last — Luke  the  evangelist,  the  writer 
of  his  history,  followed  with  trusty  fidelity  his  aged 
father  in  the  faith,  to  comfort  him  in  his  coming 
sorrows,  and  share  his  cross.  It  was  indeed  an  honour- 
able office  to  accompany  such  a  man,  who  had  now  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century  been  the  bold  ambassador  of 
Christ.  During  all  that  period  he  had  never  grown 
weary  in  his  Lord's  service.  What  was  said  of  John 
Knox,  might  with  truth  have  been  said  of  him,  "  he 


*  Neander  and  others  have  supposed  that  his  visit  to  Spain  was  after  his 

eastern  journey  ;   that  there  he  was  seized  and  taken  prisoner  to  Rome 

Neander's  Planting,  p.  344. 


406  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OP  ST  PAUL. 

never  feared  the  face  of  man."  The  thongs  and  the 
scourge,  the  stocks  of  the  prison,  the  rude  language 
and  buffetings  of  soldiers,  the  rage  of  mobs,  tedious 
journeys,  four  shipwrecks, — all  he  had  endured  with 
heroical  equanimity,  and,  if  it  pleased  God,  he  was 
willing  to  endure  tenfold  more. 

He  once  more  enters  Rome  !  We  shall  presently 
note  how  changed  the  outward  aspect  of  the  city  was 
since  he  last  was  there, — whole  streets  and  buildings 
had  been  swept  away  and  restored,  and  new  palaces 
were  looking  down  from  the  heights  of  the  Palatine. 
Among  these  new  buildings,  conspicuous  must  have 
been  the  golden  palace  of  Nero,  with  his  statue  in  the 
vestibule,  120  feet  in  height,  the  golden  stalls  for  his 
chariot  horses,  and  the  porticoes  and  columns  extend- 
ing a  mile  in  length.  "  It  was  richly  overlaid,"  says 
Suetonius,  "  with  gold,  and  everywhere  adorned  with 
the  dazzling  glitter  of  precious  stones,  and  mother-of- 
pearl.  In  the  vaulted  roofs  of  his  banqueting  rooms 
were  several  little  tables  of  ivory,  so  contrived  as  to 
turn  round  and  scatter  flowers,  and  hollow  pipes  to 
shower  down  sweet-scented  oils  upon  the  guests.  His 
principal  dining-room  was  round,  and  in  perpetual 
motion,  day  and  night,  like  the  celestial  sphere.  His 
baths  continually  flowing,  either  with  sea-water,  or 
else  fed  from  the  sulphureous  springs  of  Tivoli."  But 
why,  after  all,  linger  in  the  description  of  these? 
They  were  little  to  the  man  who,  we  arc  supposing, 
was  passing  near  them,  and  who  had  in  his  view  "  a 
building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eter- 
nal in  the  heavens." 

Imagine  Paul,  then,  amid  what  Horace  calls  "  the 
smoke,    the  riches,   and  the  noise  of  Rome,"  passing 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  407 

on,  as  in  former  years,  chained  to  a  soldier  by  the 
wrist,  to  the  place  of  confinement.  Wo  found  that, 
during  his  previous  imprisonment,  he  had  received  kind 
and  considerate  treatment.  He  was  allowed  then  to 
live  in  his  own  hired  lodging,  and,  though  chained, 
was  permitted  to  see  what  friends  he  chose.  Now  he 
was  confined  to  a  dungeon,  and  treated  as  a  malefactor. 

The  Mamertine  prison  is  still  pointed  out  as  the 
scene  of  his  incarceration.  Its  position  is  not  far  from 
the  large  pillars  which  occupy  the  foreground  in  our 
picture  of  the  "  Roman  Forum."  It  is  considered  the 
oldest  relic  and  building  in  the  city,  deriving  its  name 
from  Ancus  Martius,  the  fourth  king  of  ancient  Rome. 
It  is  reached,  in  the  present  day,  by  a  vault  under  the 
Church  of  St  Giuseppe,  where  the  visitor  finds  himself 
in  two  dismal  cells  ;  the  lower  is  only  six  and  a  half 
feet  in  height,  and  the  stones  of  which  it  is  built  are 
"  strangely  united  by  cramps  of  iron."  *  There  was 
a  circular  opening  or  aperture  above,  through  which 
prisoners,  on  their  condemnation,  were  lowered,  either 
to  starve  or  be  strangled  to  death.  Jugurtha  suffered 
the  former  of  these  cruelties  within  these  terrible  walls. 
No  wonder  Paul  wrote,  as  we  have  seen,  so  anxiously 
for  his  winter  cloak  to  protect  him  from  the  pestilen- 
tial damps  and  cold  of  such  a  place  !  Friends  are 
still  allowed  to  see  him,  but  his  mouth  is  shut  in 
preaching  the  gospel;  and  those  who  do  go,  seem  to 
venture  with  fear  and  trembling,  lest,  by  showing  sym- 
pathy, they  might  be  involved  in  the  fate  which 
seemed  so  surely  hanging  over  their  reverend  father. 

But  we  must  pause  for  a  moment  to  inquire  into 
the  cause  of  this  renewed  imprisonment. 

On  the  night  of  the  19th  of  July,  a.  d.  G4,  a  ter- 

*  Sir  William  Gell. 


408  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

rible  fire  broke  out  in  the  Circus  Maximus  of  Rome, 
between  the  Palatine  and  Aventine  Mount.  It  raged 
fiercely  for  six  days  and  seven  nights,  spreading  with 
amazing  rapidity, — the  people  being  forced  to  seek  for 
shelter  among  the  monuments  and  tombs  of  the  dead. 
No  besieging  army  could  have  so  effected  the  work  of 
destruction.  The  citizens  saw,  with  bitter  sorrow, 
their  homes  and  noble  buildings  becoming  a  prey  to 
the  furious  element ;  and  it  must  have  added  much 
to  their  indignation  to  find  (what  it  is  to  be  feared 
was  too  true)  that  the  monster  Nero  was  the  cause  of 
this  fearful  calamity.  "  He  was  offended,"  says  Sue- 
tonius, "  with  the  deformity  of  the  ancient  buildings 
and  the  narrow  passages  and  turnings  of  the  streets. 
....  Besides  the  vast  number  of  ordinary  houses, 
the  palaces  of  the  great  captains  of  former  ages, 
adorned  with  the  spoils  of  foreign  conquests — were  all 
consumed  to  ashes,  together  with  the  temples  of  the 
gods,  which  the  ancient  kings  of  Rome  had  raised,  and 
had  afterwards  been  consecrated  to  the  memory  of  the 
Roman  victories."  It  is  even  said  the  unfeeling  tyrant 
gazed  down  with  a  smile  on  his  face,  playing  on  his 
musical  instrument,  from  the  tower  of  Maecenas,  while 
his  capital  was  consuming,  and  the  shrieks  of  his  people 
were  borne  to  his  ear ! 

He  soon  came  to  find  that  so  wanton  and  cruel  an 
outrage  had  roused,  as  it  might  justly  have  done,  the 
anger  of  the  Romans.  What  is  he  to  do  1  The  base 
expedient  occurs  to  him  to  fasten  the  guilt  of  the 
burning  on  the  innocent  Christians,  whose  purity  he 
hated,  because  it  condemned  his  own  unblushing 
vices.  The  plot  answered  too  well.  The  tyrant  suc- 
ceeded, bv  this  malicious  lie,  in  rousing  the  popular 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  4QQ 

feeling  against  the  followers  of  Jesus ;  saving  himself 
by  involving  the  innocent.  Cruelties  beyond  descrip- 
tion followed.  The  suffering  Christians  were  besmeared 
with  pitch,  and  then  set  fire  to  at  night  to  lighten  the 
darkness.  Others  were  sewed  up  in  the  skins  of  beasts, 
hunted  down  by  dogs,  and  torn  to  pieces.  Nero  exulted 
also  in  this  spectacle.  He  moved  about,  as  Tacitus  tells 
us,  in  a  circus  erected  in  his  own  gardens,  "in  the  dress 
of  a  charioteer,  sometimes  on  foot  and  sometimes  view- 
ing the  spectacle  from  his  car." 

We  may  imagine  what  the  feelings  of  the  mob  were 
likely  to  be,  towards  the  great  "ringleader"  of  the 
hated  sect  of  Nazarenes.  Indeed,  this  was  probably  the 
main  charge  laid  against  Paul  now,  that  before  he  last 
left  Rome  he  had  put  this  foul  deed  of  burning  the  city 
into  the  minds  of  his  converts.  How  the  Apostle 
would  mourn  over  the  loss  of  Burrus  and  Seneca  !  The 
Prefect  of  the  Pretorium  was  now  a  very  different  man. 
Tigellinus,  the  sharer  of  Nero's  crimes  and  cruelties, 
we  may  feel  assured  would  speak  no  kindly  word  for 
the  prisoner. 

The  storm  is  fast  gathering  over  his  devoted  head, 
It  is  likely  that  no  time  would  elapse  before  his  new 
trial.  In  the  former  one,  we  have  supposed  that  he 
was  summoned  before  the  emperor.  This,  however,  as 
we  saw,  was  often  the  cause  of  considerable  delay.  At 
present  he  was  brought  probably  before  the  "Prefect  of 
the  city,"— an  officer  appointed  by  his  imperial  master 
with  supreme  authority  over  criminal  cases.  How 
touching  the  position  of  the  Apostle  when  standing  in 
this  court !  "  At  my  first  answer,"  says  he  to  Timo- 
thy, "  no  man  stood  with  me,  but  all  men  forsook  me  : 
I  pray  God  that  it  may  not  be  laid  to  their  charge. 


410  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

Notwithstanding  the  Lord  stood  with  me,  and  strength- 
ened me!"* 

He  could  get  no  advocate  to  plead  his  cause,  and 
challenge  his  accusers.  The  terrible  flames  in  the  gar- 
dens of  the  emperor  had  struck  terror  into  many  other- 
wise brave  hearts.  There  was  One,  and  only  One,  with 
him ;  but  that  one  was  better  than  all !  It  was  "  the  Cap- 
tain of  the  Lord's  host :"  "  who  could  be  against  Him  V 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  place  of  his  trial  was 
one  of  those  spacious  halls  or  basilicas  (a  king's  bench) 
in  the  Forum.  They  were  of  vast  size,  and  admitted 
great  multitudes  to  see  and  hear.  A  row  of  columns 
ran  down  each  side  of  the  interior,  and  they  were  so 
well  adapted  for  a  large  congregation,  that  when  Pagan 
Rome  became  Christian,  and  churches  were  needed, 
these  basilicas  were  used  for  this  purpose,  and  became 
patterns  for  others  throughout  Christendom.  The 
presiding  magistrate  sat  on  his  tribune  (an  elevated 
chair  of  ivory  at  one  end  of  the  hall),  surrounded  with 
assessors  or  jurors  to  give  him  advice  in  questions  of 
law.  Before  him  stood  the  prisoner,  and  the  other 
parts  of  the  building  would  be  crowded  with  eager 
listeners,  both  below  and  in  the  galleries.  The  aged 
Apostle,  with  sixty-eight  years  on  his  head,t  is  now 
brought  up  from  the  temporary  cell  under  the  basi- 
lica. When  he  appears,  a  hum  goes  through  the 
crowded  court.  Every  breath  is  stilled,  and  none  can 
tell  in  the  dense  mass  who  are  friends  and  who  are  foes. 
The  jurors  one  by  one  lay  their  hand  on  the  adjoining 
altar  before  the  tribune,  and  in  an  audible  voice  swear 
that  they  will  pronounce  a  righteous  decision. 

Paul  pled  his  own  cause,  and  that  of  his  injured 

*  2  Tim.  iv.  1G,  17.  t  Clirysostom. 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  411 

Lord,  before  these  malicious  foes.  He  preached  to 
them  (it  was  his  last  time)  of  Jesus  !  He  defended 
himself  against  the  charge  of  being  accessory  to  the 
burning  of  the  city,  and  thus  escaped  the  lingering 
agonies  that  might  otherwise  have  been  his. 

He  was  sent  back  to  prison  to  await  a  second  stage 
of  his  trial.  We  know  well  how  he  spent  this  time, 
and  what  his  feelings  were.  He  knew  what  was  in 
prospect,  but  he  was  unmoved.  He  himself  tells  us 
how  his  soul  was  nerved  for  the  coming  day  of  martyr- 
dom. "  The  shades  of  evening  are  beginning  to  slope ; 
the  gleam  of  a  brighter  sky  is  seen  beyond  ;  and  with 
the  assured  conviction  that  the  object  of  his  life 
was  fully  accomplished,"  *  he  can  say,  "  I  am  now 
ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is 
at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith :  henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day ; 
and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love 
his  appearing."  t 

Such  were  the  triumphant  feelings  of  the  criminal 
shivering  in  his  dark  dungeon!  An  inner  light,  how- 
ever, was  there,  which  turned  the  shadow  of  death  into 
the  morning.  Can  we  pause,  just  for  a  moment,  to 
hear  what  the  historian  has  to  say  of  the  mind  of 
Nero  1  How  affecting  the  contrast !  "  Not  all  the 
congratulations  of  the  soldiers,  the  senate,  and  the 
people,  could  release  him  from  the  horrors  of  a  guilty 
conscience,  which,  from  that  time  forward  (since  the 
burning  of  the  city),  never  would  permit  him  to  rest, 
either  awake  or  sleeping.  Full  often  he  confessed 
that  the  furies  lashed  him  with  their  whips,  and  somc- 

*  Stanley's  Sermons  and  Essays.  f  2  Tim.  iv.  C-S. 


412  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

times  seared  his  skin  with  their  burning  torches." 
His  last  hours  are  full  of  awful  lessons.  The  senate, 
wearied  of  his  crimes,  at  length  rose  up  against  him. 
They  resolved  to  scourge  him  to  death  and  hurl  him 
over  the  Tarpeian  rock.  When  the  resolution  came  to 
his  ears,  he  rushed  for  his  golden  box  of  poisons  to  put 
an  end  to  himself,  but  his  servants  had  hidden  it.  In 
an  agony  of  rage  and  terror,  he  found  himself  friend- 
less. Barefoot,  and  covering  his  face  with  a  napkin,  he 
flung  himself  at  midnight  on  his  horse,  and  galloped  in 
the  dark  from  his  capital  with  only  four  attendants,  a 
storm  of  thunder  and  lightning  increasing  his  panic. 
On  passing  the  Pretorian  camp  we  know  so  well,  he 
heard  a  noise  among  his  soldiers  cursing  him.  He 
took  refuge  in  a  vault,  four  miles  from  the  city,  and, 
on  hearing  the  hoofs  of  his  pursuers'  horses,  he  plunged 
a  dagger,  with  the  help  of  an  attendant,  into  his 
throat,  and  expired;  ridding  the  world  of  the  foulest 
of  her  tyrants,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two !  * 

But  to  return  from  so  sad  a  contemplation.  Few, 
very  few,  of  Paul's  friends  were  still  left  to  cheer 
him.  The  beloved  Luke,  we  have  already  men- 
tioned, was  faithful  to  the  last.  Onesiphorus,  too,  had 
come  all  the  way  from  Asia — forgetful  of  danger — to 
see  his  venerated  father,  and  cheer  the  gloom  of  the 
Mamertine  prison.  "He  sought  him  out  diligently, 
and  found  him."  It  was  a  dangerous  mission  of  Chris- 
tian friendship ;  for,  if  his  creed  had  been  known,  he 
would  have  shared  the  Apostle's  coming  fate.  We 
learn,  also,  from  the  greetings  in  the  Second  Epistle 
to  Timothy,  that  Linus,  Pudens,  the  son  of  a  senator, 
and  his  wife  Claudia,  whom  we  have  already  mentioned, 
had  come  to  visit  him  in  his  dungeon.     One,  however, 

*  See  Suetonius'  Life  of  Nero,  pp.  374-395. 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  413 

more  than  all,  ho  longed  to  see,  to  give  him  his  parting 
blessing,  and  receive,  in  return,  his  presence  and  sup- 
port at  the  hour  of  death.  This  was  Timothy,  his  own 
dear  son  in  the  faith.  They  seem  to  have  taken  a 
parting  farewell  before  this,  under  an  impression  that 
they  would  never  meet  again.  The  faithful  "son"  of 
mich  an  affectionate  father  had  wept  bitterly  at  the 
thought  of  seeing  his  face  no  more.  "  I  thank  God, 
whom  I  serve  from  my  forefathers  with  pure  con- 
science, that  without  ceasing  I  have  remembrance  of 
thee  in  my  prayers  night  and  day  ;  greatly  desiring  to 
see  thee,  being  mindful  of  thy  tears,  that  I  may  be 
filled  with  joy."'"'  But  God  had  still  spared  him. 
They  may  yet  meet  again.  The  spirit  of  the  old  man, 
like  another  Jacob,  revives  at  the  thought  !  He  was 
far  distant  in  Asia,  but  Paul  earnestly  urges  that  he 
would  come  to  him  with  all  speed  ;  and,  fearing  lest 
even  he  might  be  deterred,  from  the  many  dangers 
around,  from  giving  his  dying  sympathy,  he  exhorts 
him,  in  this  most  touching  and  beautiful  letter,  the 
"  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy,"  to  boldness  in  the  cause 
of  Jesus.  The  words  at  the  close — "  Grace  be  with  thee. 
Amen'1'' — were  probably  the  last  words  the  Great  Apos- 
tle's trembling  hand  penned  ! 

Whether  Timothy  was  able  to  comply  with  this  ear- 
nest wish,  we  cannot  pronounce.  We  have  reason  to 
suppose,  however,  that  he  did  succeed  in  reaching  his 
aged  father  in  his  cell,  and  was  with  him  in  his  closing 
hours. 

For  the  rest,  we  have  only  tradition  and  common 
history  to  trust  to.  We  left  the  prisoner  standing  be- 
fore the  tribune  in  the  crowded  basilica ;  the  jurors 
were  speaking  together,  advising  what  was  to  be  the 

*  2  Tim.  i.  3,  4. 


414  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

sentence.  Each  writes  his  own  verdict  on  a  separate 
tablet,  either  A  (absolvo,  not  guilty),  or  the  letter  C 
(condemno,  or  guilty).  The  Apostle  can  easily  foresee 
the  result ;  the  tablets  are  given  into  the  hands  of  the 
presiding  judge,  and  the  significant  word,  "  Condemno," 
rings  through  the  pillared  hall,  and  the  breathless  audi- 
ence !  He  would  be  led  back  to  his  cell.  His  Roman 
citizenship  ought  to  have  saved  him  from  the  cruel 
custom  of  scourging  the  condemned  before  death,  but 
this  seems  doubtful  on  the  present  occasion.  "  Baro- 
nius  tells  us,  that  in  the  church  of  St  Mary,  beyond 
the  bridge  in  Rome,  the  pillars  are  yet  extant  to  which 
Paul  is  said  to  have  been  bound  and  scourged."* 
What  time  elapsed  between  the  condemnation  and  the 
last  fatal  blow,  we  can  also  only  conjecture.  It  was 
the  usual  custom  for  ten  days  to  intervene,  in  order 
that  the  emperor,  if  he  chose,  might  alter  or  reverse 
the  sentence.  But  it  is  equally  well  known  that  Nero 
often  hurried  his  victims  from  the  bar  to  the  place  of 
execution,  within  an  hour  after  judgment  was  given. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  but  a  short  breathing- 
time  would  be  permitted  the  Great  Apostle,  before  he 
finally  passed  to  a  more  righteous  judgment-seat,  from 
the  trials  and  persecutions  of  a  world  he  had  so  long 
and  so  meekly  borne.  Tradition  has  fixed  the  29th  of 
June,  a.  d.  66,  as  the  memorable  day  when  the  Church 
in  heaven  was  to  receive  the  greatest  of  her  "  cloud  of 
witnesses."  Paul's  citizenship  now,  however,  saved 
him  once  more  from  the  cruel  and  lingering  death  of 
crucifixion  he  at  one  time  expected.  He  was  led  out- 
side the  city  walls,  tied  to  a  stake,  and  then  beheaded. 
It  was  at  Aquae  Salvise,  on  the  road  to  Ostia,  the 
port  of   Rome,   that   the    blood    of   the   Apostle    was 

*    C.ivr.   p.    10G. 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE.  415 

shed.  If  there  be  a  hallowed  spot  on  earth,  it  is  surely 
here ! 

Let  us  imagine  the  scene !  Crowds  to  and  from  Ostia 
were  hurrying  along,  little  knowing  all  that  was  con- 
nected with  that  band  of  soldiers,  who,  under  a  burning 
sun,  were  hurrying  their  unresisting  prisoner  to  the 
place  of  execution.  Of  those  who  attended  him  and 
witnessed  his  last  moments,  we  have  no  information. 
Many  converts,  doubtless,  who  had  heard  him  years 
before  in  "  his  own  hired  house,"  and  who  had  wel- 
comed the  shipwrecked  prisoner  at  Appii  Forum,  were 
now  following  the  steps  of  their  spiritual  father 
with  weeping  eyes,  feeling  that  their  next  meeting 
would  be  with  tearless  ones  in  heaven.  We  may  only 
think  of  the  possibility  of  Luke  and  Timothy  lingering 
in  the  crowd,  and  giving  that  sympathy  by  looks  and 
silent  expression,  which  they  dared  not  do  by  words. 
We  need  not,  however,  dwell  on  the  closing  spectacle. 
Soon  all  is  over !  He  has  willingly,  like  his  Lord, 
borne  his  cross  "  without  the  gate."  One  stroke  of  the 
fatal  weapon,  and  the  soul  of  the  glorious  Hero  is  car- 
ried up  by  angels  to  Paradise  ! 

The  Church  on  earth  never  had  such  cause  to  weep 
since  her  Lord  himself  had  left.  But  tears  are  unavail- 
ing. They  take  up  the  dead  body,  and  either  bury  it 
on  the  spot,  or,  as  tradition  says,  place  it  in  the  cata- 
combs of  the  Roman  city. 

There  was  something  befitting  and  appropriate  in  the 
Great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  thus  dying  in  the  Gentile 
capital;  nor  can  we  regret  the  uncertainty  that  exists 
in  marking  the  place  of  his  burial.  His  true  mauso- 
leum is  in  the  souls  of  the  millions  on  millions  who 
have  read,  and  prayed,  and  rejoiced  over  his  words 
In  one  of  the  noblest  of  human   temples — one,  too, 


41  G  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST  PAUL. 

which  bears  the  name  of  the  Apostle-martyr  (our  own 
St  Paul's  in  London) — few  have  failed  to  note  the  in- 
scription on  the  monument  to  its  illustrious  architect, 
placed  immediately  under  the  dome.  The  spot  where 
the  dust  of  Paul  reposes  is  under  no  temple  made 
with  hands,  but  under  the  blue  vault  of  an  Italian 
sky,  in  the  centre  of  the  civilised  world ; — that  world 
which,  in  one  sense,  he  has  made  "consecrated  ground ;' 
for  its  remotest  shores  have  listened,  or  are  listening, 
to  the  echoes  of  his  undying  voice,  and  receiving  his 
apostolic  benediction.  The  Church  may  well  inscribe 
on  his  Roman  tomb,  as  she  looks  to  the  nations  he  lias 
thus  Christianised — the  wide  realms  which,  under  God, 
he  has  made  happier — 

"  SI  MONUMENTUM  REQUIRIS,  CTRCUMSPICE  !  " 

His  own  humility  was  content  with  a  lowlier  motto — 

"  To  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain  1 " 


The  pains  of  death  are  past ; 

Labour  and  sorrow  cease ; 
And,  life's  long  warfare  closed  at  last, 

His  soul  is  found  in  peace  ! 

'  Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done ! 
Praise  be  thy  new  employ; 
And  while  eternal  ages  run, 
Rest  in  thy  Saviour's  joy." 


THE  END. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE 

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Theological  Seminanr ^wT 


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